Ethiopian client wins U.S. political asylum

Client(s) Ethiopian applicant for U.S. asylum

On May 22, 2007, Jonathan Berman and James McOmber of Jones Day Washington secured asylum status for a client fleeing persecution in Ethiopia. The client, a citizen of Ethiopia, had joined a political party that opposed the government in national elections held in May 2005, and had attempted to organize a demonstration to protest the political assassination of a friend of a fellow party member. The government of Ethiopia arrested, jailed, beat, and tortured him for these activities. Jones Day represented him in his efforts to obtain asylum status in the United States, which was granted after an evidentiary hearing before the Immigration Court in Arlington, Virginia.