US professor among 5 sentenced to die in Ethiopia

By Samson Haileyesus (AP) and Aaron Maasho (AFP) December 22, 2009

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia – An Ethiopian court sentenced five people to death — including an Ethiopian professor teaching at a U.S. university — and 33 to life in prison Tuesday for being members of a terror group and conspiring to assassinate government officials.
Those convicted have been accused of being members of the Ginbot 7 — May 15 in the Ethiopian calendar — which refers to Ethiopia's election day in 2005 when postelection violence killed close to 200 people.
Among those sentenced to death was Berhanu Nega, an exiled opposition leader who was elected mayor of Addis Ababa in 2005. Nega is currently an associate professor of economics at Bucknell University in Pennsylvania.
Three of the other five sentenced to death are also living in exile outside Ethiopia; one is in custody.
The prosecution asked the court to impose severe penalties because many of the accused were members of the army. Many of those convicted were expected to appeal.
All but two of the defendants in Ethiopian custody have proclaimed their innocence. Two defendants cooperated with the prosecution and were sentenced to 10 years.
Nega and more than 100 other opposition politicians were arrested after the 2005 election and put on trial for treason. Nega and others were pardoned and freed after 20 months, but the government last week revoked Nega's pardon.
[Andargachew Tsige, one of the leaders of Ginbot 7, speaks briefly to the BBC on why it is invalid to appeal the death sentences in a country where there is no rule of law.]
According to a Bucknell University article on Nega, the economics professor was a leader in the democratic opposition in Ethiopia after returning there in the mid-1990s. In 2005, he become the first elected mayor in Ethiopia's history with 75 percent of the vote, but the ruling party declared victory in races throughout the country.
"Thus ended the Ethiopian democratic experiment that had started with such high hopes, leaving the country in the darkness of totalitarian rule," Nega said during a talk on campus last year.
Nega was jailed after the election and released after 20 months in July 2007. Since his release, he has urged the U.S. and other Western countries to back democratic movements in Ethiopia and withdraw support for dictatorships.
Opposition politicians have for months been pointing to signs of increased oppression in Ethiopia, notably the harassment and arrest of thousands of their candidates in 2008's local elections that they believe allowed the ruling party to sweep the elections.
Aaron Maasho, AFP correspondent in Addis, said the defendants' relatives and lawyers said they would appeal the sentences.
"I will appeal, I'm not satisfied with the decision. It's harsh, I hope it will be reversed after we appeal it," said Tidenekyalesh Tesfa, whose client Getu Worku was sentenced to life and had his property confiscated.
The relative of another army officer who was sentenced to life in jail struggled to hold back her tears after the sentences were pronounced.
"It's a pity. There is no justice in Ethiopia... the evidence was incomplete," she told AFP on condition of anonymity. "He served his country, he sacrificed his whole life for the military... but for what?"
The trial, one of the most high-profile in the country's recent history, comes against a tense political backdrop, ahead of general elections scheduled for May next year.
Rights groups have accused Meles' regime of instilling a climate of fear ahead of the polls.
"The spectre of the 2005 crackdown on the opposition and on the independent press is resurfacing in the run-up to the May 2010 general elections," the Paris-based media watchdog Reporters Without Borders said in a recent statement.
A senior US official also voiced concern last month at what he described as a "reduction in political space and the ability of opposition parties to operate."
Some 200 people died in violence that erupted following the disputed results of the 2005 elections.
Berhanu Nega's now-defunct opposition Coalition for Unity and Democracy had won an unprecedented number of seats.

አኬልዳማ

በአገሬ ሕዝብ ላይ- ሰቆቃ
ምነው አልቆም አለ-አላበቃ
ርህራሄ ተነፍጎት-
እየኖረ በዋይታ
ስው ባምሳያው- ሰብዓዊነት
አልሰማው ብሎ-ኃላፊነት
ሰብዓዊ መብቱ- ተረግጦ
ወገን በወገን ላይ-ዶልቶ
ወገን ሞቶ-ወገን ገድሎ
በፉከራ
ፈጣሪም ሳይፈራ
ዘራፍ ብለን ራሳችን- በራሳችን
እኛው በእኛ ላይ- አምፀን
ጳጳስ ገድለን- ጳጳስ ሾመን
አሃዱ ብለን በስልሳ ራስ- አንገት ቀልተን
የኛን ራስ- እኛው ጠልተን
የአስራ ሁለት ዓመት ልጅ -ገና ጨቅላ
የአስር ዓመት ልጃገረድ- እምቦቅላ
ሽኘን በሞት- በሽለላ
ገዳይ ብለን በፉከራ።

ድንበር ሰርተን- ሸሁን ገፍተን- ካህን ጠልተን
በማናውቀው ርዕዮተዓለም- ተጠምቀን
ሽብር ሆኖ ቀይና ነጭ-ወገን ከፍሎ
አንዱ ሌላውን-ሊያጠፋ ተገዝቶ ምሎ
ልንጠፋፋ-ተገዳድረን
በጥፋት ካህን ፊት-ምለን ተገዝተን
ላንተኛ- በሃሳብ የተለየን ወንድማችን
አፈር ሳይሆን

እናት አሳዝነን- ለአባት ማቅ አልብሰን
እርር አርገን
ልጆች ከጉያ- ተነጥቀው
ለመቃብር -ተዳርገው
ዋይታ በዝቶ- ለቅሶ ቢሆን
ዘፈን ጠፍቶ -ሳቃችን ሆኖ ሃዘን
ሺህዎች -እንደቅጠል ቢረግፉ
ቢበዛብን -የእኛው በእኛ- ፍጡር ግፉ
አኬልዳማ ሆነ ቃሉ- አኬልዳማ
የሞት ጥላ አጥልቶብን-የእልቂታችን ካራማ።

እኛው በእኛ ላይ- ከፍተን
እንደ ወንድማማች- በሰላም አብረን
መኖር ተሳነንና-ቀጠለ ጥፋታችን።
ዛሬም እንደትናንቱ- በሃሳብ ለተለየን
ይሙት በቃ- ብለን በየን
እንደ ፋንታ በላይ- ሁሉ
ይሙት አልን ሙሉነህ- ይሙት አልን ብርሃኑ
እንደ መርዕድ እና አመሃ- ደምሴና ቁምላቸው
ፈረድን-
ይሙት በቃ በመስፍን
በመላኩና በአንዳርጋቸው።

መደብን ከመደብ- ጎሣን ከጎሣ ሆነ ብለን
ኃይማኖትን ከኃይማኖት- በማጋጨት ተክነን
ከጎሰኝነት ከሃይማኖት ከመደብ ወገንተኝት
መጽዳት አቅቶን
በኢትዮጵያዊነት ጥላ ስር -ማረፍ ወንጀል ሆኖ
ደም ይፈሳል ጅረት ሆኖ- ቱግ ብሎ
የጥቂቶች ፍልጎት- በአብዛኞቻችን ጀርባ ተጭኖ
አሜን ብለን እንድንኖር- ህግ ህኖ
መልካም ስራ ተንቆ
ወንጀል በተገላቢጦሽ
መልካም ተብሎ
የምንኖርባት ምድር- ሆናለች አኬልዳማ
የሞት ጥላ ያጠለባት- የጥላቻ ካራማ

ልዩነታችን የሚፈታው- ሆነና በጠመንጃ
ገዥ ሆኖ አፈሙዝ- ግኡዝ ፍጡሩ ሳንጃ
የትኛው ጅኒ- አጋንንት ቢያርፍብን ነው
ምድራችን ለዓመታት- አኬልዳማ የሆነው?
መቸ ይሆን የሚቆመው
እኛው በእኛ ላይ የፈጠርነው
መከራው?

ዳግማዊ ዳዊት
ታህሳስ 2002 ዓ.ም.
Ethio_dagmawi@yahoo.com

Ethiopian activists protest in Copenhagen

Ethiomedia December 21, 2009

COPENHAGEN - Braving frigid weather unseen for over eight years, patriotic Ethiopians drove for several hours from all over Europe and descended on Copenhagen where they denounced genocide perpetrator Meles Zenawi, a pro-democracy website reported on Sunday.
The report on AbbayMedia said temperatures had dropped to minus 12°C when the Ethiopian activists withstood the harsh weather for several hours, appealing to Western leaders, particularly US President Barack Obama, to probe appalling human rights conditions in Ethiopia, and take appropriate measures.
Waving their native country's tricolor, and holding high an oversize photo banner of Birtukan Mideksa, the activists chanted for hours for the release of the prominent opposition leader, and thousands of other political prisoners that Meles has locked up in his dungeons.
Zenawi, who has been in power since 1991, has committed numerous crimes - ranging from turning Ethiopia into a landlocked nation to committing genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity. He has evaded Western government attention by fueling conflicts in the Horn of Africa, for which he appears as a Western ally in the name of a 'partner in the war on terror.'
The tyrant was attending the Climate Talks as chief negotiator of African countries but ended up shaming developing countries by crowning himself the unofficial chief negotiatior for the rich West.
"On the ninth day of the Copenhagen climate summit, Africa was sacrificed," award-winning journalist and activist Naomi Klein wrote. "It is hard to believe it was this man who three months ago threatened to walk out of the Climate Talks if African demands were not met."
The betrayal of Meles Zenawi that made headline news for the rest of the world was nothing new for Ethiopians who have for nearly 20 years appealed to the international community to help them ostracize the man they believe is their country's worst enemy.
AbbayMedia said the protest rally was organized by the Committee of the International Network against Repression and Injustice in Ethiopia. Most of the activists were drawn from host country Denmark, UK, Sweden, Germany, Norway, Switzerland, Netherlands, France and Italy.