Kitchener, Ont. family desperately seeking return of father detained in Ethiopia

The family of a Kitchener, Ont. man is asking for help as their father remains detained abroad. CTV’s Colton Wiens reports.

A family in Kitchener, Ont. is pleading with the federal government to help them free their father, who has been detained in an Ethiopian prison for nearly six months.

Nyarieni Pal said her father, Peter Jola, went to visit family and friends in South Sudan last March. But, as he was travelling through Ethiopia, she said Jola was detained at the airport for having walkie-talkies in his luggage.

“Originally, they actually told him that he could leave them there and that he would be able to pick them up upon arrival,” Pal told CTV News on Tuesday. “They just weren’t allowed in the country. That was fine with him. Unfortunately, there was different communication with another border agent and then he was told that he wouldn’t be able to leave and was last being taken over for detention.”

Pal said her father, a Canadian citizen for more than 30 years, loves technology and was planning to give the walkie-talkies away as gifts.

Instead, he was taken to an Ethiopian prison.

“He did not expect this to happen,” Pal insisted. “He is completely beside himself. We are anxious. We are desperate to get him home. He’s turning 68 in November. He has high blood pressure, he has diabetes. He requires the use of a cane, which he doesn’t have in prison. And he is not getting the adequate medical treatment he needs.”

There were also concerns, she added, that Jola might have a kidney tumor.

Pal, her seven siblings and her mother have all been trying to get Jola back home to Canada.

“We’ve contacted the embassy. I think they’ve made a total of two or three visits to him in the prison,” Pal explained. “The latest visit that they made, they confirmed that he’s lost a noticeable amount of weight. Which is also very concerning.”

The family has had several different lawyers in Ethiopia but Jola’s court dates keeping getting pushed back.

“If the legal process continues, we can respect that,” Pal insisted. “But we require that the hospitals in Ethiopia, and the prison that he’s currently in, are able to get him the medical treatment he so needs.”

The Canadian Embassy has told the family they do not get involved in any kind of legal proceedings, while Global Affairs Canada said they were aware of the situation.

“Global Affairs Canada officials are in contact with the individual, their family and local authorities and are offering consular assistance,” they said in a statement to CTV News.

Pal said her father is Nuer and part of the Nilotic ethnic group from South Sudan. She believes that may have played a part in his detainment.

“There’s a lot of civil war friction right now. Ethiopia and South Sudan sharing a border does make that tricky. Do I believe he’s being persecuted for his ethnicity? It’s very possible,” Pal said. “He has so much love in his heart for this country. And it really brings him immense sadness that he does not feel supported.”

CTV News reached out to the Ethiopian Ministry of Justice for comment but did not get a response by our deadline.

Pal, meanwhile, has set up a GoFundMe page to help the family pay its legal fees and send food to Jola behind bars.

Mostly, they’re hoping to connect with someone who can help them free their father.

“We’ve reached a wall within our own community and we are looking for people who have the resources, not just financially, but who knows a person that can help, whether it’s lawyers here, lawyers in Ethiopia, MPs, people who have some kind of power or authority to kind of get this message in the right hands is what we’re looking for,” Pal explained.