§ 87. Mr. J. Johnsonasked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs if he is aware that fourteen British Protectorate Somali elders have been detained in Harar Prison awaiting trial in connection with the murder of an Ethiopian Sultan, notwithstanding that the actual assassin has been sentenced and duly executed; and what steps he will take in this matter.
§ Mr. TurtonIn August, 1954, these men were arrested, as was another man, who has since been tried and sentenced for the murder. The others were charged with complicity before an Ethiopian court, which acquitted them on 25th October; they have since been released. I have no confirmation that the execution of the other man has yet taken place.
Her Majesty's Consul, Harar, made immediate investigations when the men were arrested, and satisfied himself that, although belonging to the Habr Awal a British Protected tribe, these men were by their own admission, dual nationals. He could not, therefore, intervene.