An Ethiopian federal police officer was sentenced to death yesterday by a military court in Jigjiga for the shooting death of Somali region MP Juweria Subcis in late October.
The military court Somali Region of Ethiopia’s Fafan Zone found the officer guilty of intentional homicide and sentenced him to death under Ethiopia’s Criminal Code.
Juweria Subcis, a central committee member of the ruling Prosperity Party Central Committee and the Somali regional state Parliament, was killed inside the Jigjiga Garad Wilwal Airport in the region’s capital on 25 October.
According to witnesses, the officer opened fire inside the airport, killing the Juweria Sub’is and injuring five others.
Following the daytime shooting, Somali regional police announced that the officer was arrested.
Abdirashid Mohammed, a Somali regional cabinet member, was seriously wounded in the shooting.
Mohammed claims that Juweria’s shooting was premeditated, that there was a disagreement between the federal officials and the MP, and that the police officer acted on his own.
Mohammed added that the killing was not political.
Juweria’s sister, Fowsia Musse, an American community organizer, and Musse’s 14-year-old son were also seriously injured. Musse returned to the US with her two youngest children after undergoing a leg amputation in Ethiopia in late October.
In Ethiopia, the death penalty can only be enforced through the President’s written consent, and sentences are often commuted to life imprisonment. A death sentence is applicable under the country’s penal code for crimes such as murder, terrorism, treason, and certain military offences. Convicts are executed by hanging or firing squad and carried out by the Ethiopian National Defense Force.
