By Annie Slemrod
BEIRUT: The Ethiopian consulate in
Lebanon has filed suit against Ali Mahfouz, the man who was caught on tape
beating domestic worker Alem Dechasa outside her consulate. Dechasa, 33,
committed suicide Wednesday.
Asaminew Debelie Bonssa, Ethiopia’s
consul general in Lebanon, told The Daily Star Thursday that “we have already
sued him [Ali Mahfouz].” He declined to give the details of the lawsuit, saying
it was “a legal issue that cannot be made public,” adding that the suit was in
process before the consulate was aware of Dechasa’s death but that with this
development “everyone is expecting something out of this.”
In a video released by LBCI last
week, Dechasa was seen moaning as a man, later identified as Mahfouz, beat and
tried to force her into a car outside the Ethiopian consulate, aided by another
man.
Security and judicial sources told
The Daily Star that Mahfouz was briefly arrested last week, but was released
after leaving his address with the magistrate. They were not able to
immediately confirm the consulate’s lawsuit.
Bonssa said that he has not received
any police or medical report regarding Dechasa’s death, but said “we need the
whole autopsy as [is] internationally acceptable,” adding that this was
necessary especially given “when somebody dies ... under the care of the
hospital it is really unexpected.”
Dechasa was taken to the
Psychiatrique de la Croix Hospital, known as Deir al-Salib, after the incident
around three weeks ago. She died in the early hours of Wednesday morning.
Bonssa said doctors told him she hanged herself using her bed sheets.
Mahfouz told LBC that Dechasa had
attempted suicide three times.
The hospital declined to comment, citing privacy
concerns.http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Local-News/2012/Mar-15/166771-ethiopia-sues-lebanese-man-over-beating-of-domestic-worker.ashx#axzz1p511kN7d
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