Court charges 23 S/Sudanese refugees with ”gruesome” murder

An Ethiopian court has charged 23 South Sudanese refugees with carrying out the “gruesome” murder of 10 Ethiopian civilians using sticks and shovels at a refugee camp in the western part of the country last April. The defendants were accused of planning the attacks in retaliation for a car accident in which two refugee children […]

An Ethiopian court has charged 23 South Sudanese refugees with carrying out the “gruesome” murder of 10 Ethiopian civilians using sticks and shovels at a refugee camp in the western part of the country last April.
The defendants were accused of planning the attacks in retaliation for a car accident in which two refugee children were killed inside Jewi Refugee Camp in Ethiopia’s Gambella region.
The killings, which took place at the same camp, sparked unrest in the town, where some South Sudanese Nuer have been the victims of attacks by Ethiopian “highlanders” – a term used in the region for those who trace their origins to the central parts of the country.
“The perpetrators planned to attack in advance, in retaliation for the tragic car accident,” said the charge sheet read out by prosecutors in Ethiopia’s high court late on Monday.