By Annie Slemrod
BEIRUT: The Ethiopian consulate in
Lebanon has filed a lawsuit against Ali Mahfouz, the man who was caught on tape
beating domestic worker Alem Dechasa outside her consulate.
Dechasa 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, 33, 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 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 “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 that doctors told him she hanged herself using her bed sheets.
Mahfouz told LBC that Dechasa had attempted
suicide three times.http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Politics/2012/Mar-16/166861-ethiopian-consulate-sues-lebanese-man-in-abuse-case.ashx#axzz1p511kN7d
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