Johannesburg - The Constitutional Court has agreed to hear a cry for help from jailed Ethiopian human rights activist Beneyam Deselegn Ashebo, who is being detained at Kgosi Mampuru Prison in Pretoria because he is in South Africa illegally.
The Pretoria High Court had refused to hear his case due to technical reasons, and he has now petitioned the Constitutional Court, which has agreed to hear it.
Ashebo fled Ethiopia in May 2021, after being persecuted for his religious beliefs.
He entered South Africa illegally, not at a port of entry, on or about June 11, 2021. Upon his entry, Ashebo was advised to approach the Refugee Centre in Pretoria to apply for an asylum seeker permit. He made several attempts to attend the centre, but was turned away on each occasion.
Ashebo then approached advocate Snethemba Vobi to launch an application in the High Court, in an attempt to direct the Department of Home Affairs to accept his application for asylum.
After having launched the application in the High Court, Ashebo lacked funds to continue with the litigation. He was later arrested (on July 7 last year) for illegally entering the Republic.
Ashebo's attorneys then approached new attorneys who were willing to assist him and didn’t demand immediate payment. The attorneys launched an urgent application in the Pretoria High Court interdicting his deportation, asking for his release, and declaring his continuing detention unlawful.
The case was heard on August 30, 2022, and the court was directed to authorities from the Constitutional Court showing Ashebo was entitled to have his case heard. The High Court disregarded the case authorities, ruled that his case was not urgent, and ordered him to pay legal costs for Home Affairs, even though the case involved Ashebo’s right to liberty since he was in jail.
With nowhere to turn, Ashebo immediately filed an urgent application to the Constitutional Court asking for his release and declaring his continued detention unlawful.
Ashebo’s case will be heard by the Constitutional Court on Thursday this week.
He is arguing that the judge should have heard the merits of his case and ordered he be released from jail, as the detention was unlawful.
Ashebo argues that keeping him in jail in circumstances where the High Court could have come to his assistance violated his human rights and was against the Constitution and international law.
He will further argue that his detention is without cause, and that the court must rule in his favour and declare he is entitled to be released and remain in the Republic, pending the final determination of his asylum application.
The Star