Ethiopian diplomat flees US to dodge prosecution
By <
http://thehill.com/author/mario-trujillo> Mario Trujillo -
10/03/14 04:21 PM EDT
An Ethiopian diplomat who allegedly fired a gun during a protest this week
at his country's embassy in Washington, D.C., has left the United States to
escape prosecution.
The State Department on Thursday confirmed that it had asked Ethiopia to
waive the diplomat's immunity so he could be prosecuted in U.S. courts,
which was refused.
"In this case, we requested a waiver of immunity to permit prosecution of
the individual involved in that incident," State Department press secretary
Jen Psaki said. "The request was declined and the individual involved has
now left the country."
Diplomats are expelled from the United States when their host country
declines to waive diplomatic immunity.
Psaki, who did not identify the diplomat, said once expelled, individuals
typically are not allowed back to the U.S. for any other reason but
prosecution.
The Secret Service responded to reports of a gunshot at the Ethiopian
Embassy compound on Monday and detained an individual believed to have fired
the shot.
No injuries were reported from the incident, which was partially caught on
camera with a man in a black suit wielding a handgun amid a small crowd of
people before the gunshot is heard.
<
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/09/29/us-usa-ethiopia-embassy-idUSKCN0H
O1WZ20140929> Reuters reported the man turned himself into authorities but
he was not arrested because of his diplomatic immunity.
Received on Fri Oct 03 2014 - 06:52:38 EDT