ADDIS ABABA (BBC) — An Ethiopian court has sentenced five people to death and 33 others to life in prison for planning to assassinate government officials.
Prosecutors had said the convicted were part of the Ginbot 7 (15 May) group led by Berhanu Nega, a US-based dissident.
He was among those sentenced to death, as was opposition leader Melaku Tefera.
Mr Melaku was present in the Addis Ababa courtroom with 27 other accused. Some of the defendants have said they were tortured into confessing.
Convicting the men in November, Judge Adem Ibrahim said the court had not been convinced of the torture allegations.
The authorities have said they found weapons, including land mines, at the men’s homes when they were arrested in April.
Army officers sentenced
“The… five have committed grave offences and four of them have not learnt from their previous sentences,” said Judge Adem passing down the sentences.
“Therefore, we have been been obliged to give the most severe sentences.”
Relatives of the men broke down in the courtroom as the sentences were read out, says the BBC’s Uduak Amimo in Addis Ababa.
The death sentences were reserved for what the court called the political leaders of the plot, while those sentenced to life imprisonment were active or former military officers, AFP news agency said.
Lawyers for the defence said they would appeal.
Andergachew Tsege, secretary general of Ginbot 7 and one of those sentenced to death in absentia, told the BBC’s Focus on Africa programme the ruling was not unexpected.
“It is not surprising to us and probably to the people of Ethiopia,” he said.
“We know the price of freedom – the preservation of rights always forces us to pay sacrifice and if that sacrifice means to be sentenced to death, so be it.”
‘Ethnic apartheid’
The authorities have long accused Mr Berhanu of spearheading opposition plots.
He was arrested after being elected mayor of Addis Ababa in 2005 and jailed for treason.
He was pardoned in 2007 and left for the United States, where he began teaching economics at a university.
Ginbot 7 was named after the date of the 2005 elections, which Meles Zenawi’s party won, but which the opposition said was rigged.
Mr Berhanu denies engaging in armed struggle against the government, but Mr Andergachew said attempts to engage in peaceful politics had failed to deliver.
“The political space in Ethiopia for peaceful struggle has been killed by Meles, so we have no choice,” Mr Andergachew said.
“As long as they [the government] refuse to listen, we will use any means possible to force them to listen or to force them out of office.”
Rights groups have expressed concern that the government is trying to silence dissent before Ethiopia holds its next national election in June 2010.
Mr Andergachew said Ginbot 7 was angered that political and economic life in Ethiopia was dominated by Mr Meles’s Tigrean ethnic group.
“They are building what we call an ethnic apartheid in Ethiopia,” he said.
29 thoughts on “Ato Melaku, Dr Berhanu, 3 others sentenced to death”
Zenawi is now upset of what happened to him in Copenhagen. He was disgraced by African leaders, insulted by Ethiopian protesters, and mortified by international environment activists.
Now is time for Zenawi to censure his failure on oppositions by punishing them. Once again, G7 members are also doomed as terrorist just for the sake of getting rid of them. If opposing the atrocious Tigray Liberation front is terrorism, they might as well arrest 80 million Ethiopians as no one supports TPLF by will.
It is clear the Ethiopian Arab Muslims have already ignited the fire to destroy Christianity in Ethiopia. Case in point, Judge Adem Ibrahim is an Ethiopian Arab Muslim who delightfully condemned the five prominent Ethiopian scholars to death and the other 33 to life in prison. This is the only way Muhammad the false prophet taught his followers to spread Islam throughout the world by condemning the Christians to death wherever they are. It is sad to see Ethiopia, a Christian country, to be infiltrated by Jihadists and terrorists – the Ethiopian Arab Muslims. The Ethiopian Arab Muslims have dominated the Ethiopian parliament, the Ethiopian market, the Ethiopian Universities, the Ethiopian hospitals, and the Ethiopian media. What is left is that they have not yet officially declared that Ethiopia is a Muslim country because they are scared of the Christian Amharas who courageously destroyed that evil leader of theirs – Gragn Muhammad.
Andargachew perfectly expressed what has prevailed in Ethiopia, that is what it is and what is purposed to create: irreversible indispensability of the Tigreans even if democracy is reborn in the far future.
They are following the footsteps poisonous tacitly West accepted country experience that successfully is being implemented. If such thing is being done there why not here. Woyane is the best imitator and servant of the West, so they are willing and may be happy to connive what Woyane is doing. We should fight to stop this from happening with all means peaceful and non peaceful. The situation demands that all peoples and oppositions (Multinational organizations as well as national liberation fronts) come together to topple before more damage is caused. Woyane is too big and too shrewd an enemy to win without forging unity among oppositions small or big, hardliner or liberal, northerner or southerner, Kolegna or Degegna, Neftegna or otherwise, Christian or Muslim or atheist. Woyane will remain surmountable for any single opposition or for oppositions brewing infighting. Let every one contribute its own share to down fall of TPLF.
As the rope around it’s neck gets tightend, the tplf werebela gang gets more scared and suspicious of everything that moves including it’s own shadow. It will become more vicious and try to silence and stop every opposing views and activities. This shows the tplf’s desperation to try to hang on to power by all means possible. One thing is for sure. This barbaric act of violence against innocent people by this ciminal gang will most likely galvanize the opposition’s activities and speed up it’s demise. The weyane gang has reached the end of it’s journey and has become more vicious like a cornered beast. Fear and suspicion is it’s worst enemy. It is natural all dectators tend to be more ruthless and attack anything and everything they suspect as a threat to their very servival. Time has no mercy and will nock on weyane’s door very soon.
Hi Ela,
No General Melaku, but Mr Melaku.please make correction on the title of the news.
i tought that the repeated announcement of’GENERAL TEFERA MAMO”s name confused you.
The time should up to the regime of Meles. It is hard to believe the Westerns are still backing him up. We Ethiopian should not wait the westerns support any longer. As Mr. Andergachew mentioned, the regime will be out of office by any means force. Let us work together as one people to remove this ruthless and tyrant government. The Westerns don’t care for the people of Ethiopia as long as their interest is not touched. The Meles regime also does not care for the people of Ethiopia but the western interest and to keep his power. In Copenhagen, the Meles regime ignores the interest of Ethiopia as well as the whole Africa. He is just ruthless and ignorant leader. He should be sentence to death, not those innocent people.
Hi, Elias. Make a correction on the headline, Gen. Melaku. He is not a General, he is Ato and part of UDJ leadership.
TPLF has finally realized there is no challenge to its fire power. The Ethiopian majority has been silenced to slavery. Ethiopians are used for TPLF to gather its wealth, at the end when they get away with all the loot, the Ethiopian majority will realize they should have fought tooth and nail to oust the TPLF ethnic dictatorial hegemony. Too bad, everyone is just waking up too little too late.
Good luck removing the ever increasing TPLF power.
Meles have been killing the whole Ethiopian people. No surprise for any of the sentence, it was expecting and he will keep up his brutality till the people of Ethiopian put him in prison for life.
shame on woyane !!! what a pity that we found ourselves in the hands of such shameless tyrants. killing birhanu or anargachew doesn’t change abything in ethiopia. This is rather a pure sign of frustration on the part of woyane and its dubious attempt to instill a general sense of fear among the public before the up coming national election.
Long live Birhanu Nega. I have a dream that one day Birhanu will forgive these tyrants like mandela did to aparthide leaders.
mr.ASSTA B.gettu are you for real?you need to take back what you wrote and you need to apologize to 60% muslim ethiopians ?
As mr. andargachew said, it was not unexpected.The little tyrant overreacts any time he feels threatend. I guess Ginbot 7 must be doing something right to rattle him like that. To avenage mr. andargatchew for his anti woyane acitivity, he had to harm his 80 years old father. what a moron!!! Even the derg that he likes to portray as a monster never touched his father despite the fact that he-meles zenawi the son- was the leader of an armed group bent on destroying the country. A humilation in coppenhagen coupled with a failed attempt to reemerge as a ” states man” had to drive the tyrant to what he knows best. And that is to frighten people with death threat, robbery and imprisonment. Let us all support Ginbot 7 and those who are fighting woyane fire with fire. Fire is the only language that woyane respects.
This is a cheap shot at Ginbot 7 and its leaders. i guess they are doing something significant to rattle the woyane tyrant. Let us take this opportunity to pledge our support to Ginbot 7 and other patriotic Ethiopians who are fighting the tribal regime day and day out.
Asta, will you please stop blaming Muslim Ethiopians. You are doing exactly what the devil Meles wants you to do–to take the attention from him and create chaos among ourselves.
The biggest and the only problem in Ethiopia is Evil Meles. Meles is the master of all Evil. He is the prosecutor and the judge, the rest of them are his puppets and robots, they do what he tells them to do, the rule of law does not apply in woyanes court. I hate these SOBs.
It is very surprising what kind of law exists in Ethiopia.It is well known that more than 200 people were killed during the 2005 election but no one was accused for taking the lives of those indigenous people to the contrary Meles Zenawi has sentenced death penality to brave individuals fighting on behave of the lost lives.I think it not true,may be to scare or frighten them and to block the 2010 election.
Guys, You are trying to correct Elias instead of talking about the issue.
The woyanne minority junta leader thinks he can stop the fight against him by bulling first on UDJ leader Bertukan Mideksa and now on Genbot 7 leaders. This is really self explanatory that himself is so paniced, frustrated and counting down his demise. He should know that there is no place on earth to hide him. The fire is already on it soon is going burn him.
Death to woyanne leader Meles Zenawi and his family!
Death to Bereket Simon and his family!
Death to Sebehat Nega and his family!
Death to all woyanne members and their family!
Long live the struggle against woyannes and their families!
Few people know nothing except hate, they don’t even know what the article about instead spreading hate.
Elias since you are blogger of the ethiopian review, I believe you have responsibility to avoid such commenter in no.2 otherwise it will undermine your effort.
We all fighting the dictator meles’s regime be Christain or muslim together. There is no such “catholic ethiopia” or ” arab ethiopia”. This country is our country for all of us be muslim or christian. I also want to remind for those hate lovers you may better find a country that has place for you but not ethiopia because ethiopia has no place for the people like you.
We ethiopians need somebody who unite us not divide us by hate. For your information we are fighting Meles because he himself try to disementate hate among ethiopians like what you trying to do … so what is the difference between crucude meles and the so called commenter no. 4
I am sorry for such person and I Ato Elias expect to take action to avoid such hatelovers comment from your web site and thank you.
We should immediately convene a peoples court and sentence Meles to death, it would be pity if Meles was to die of natural causes.
Those sentenced to death by the woyane cangaroo court are heroes. Dr Birhanu & Co, you have won our admiration for your relentless struggle against the idiot Meles. Meles thinks she is smart, some fools within the opposition also think she is smart — but Meles is a simple village idiot and as such deserves our most sincere contempt.
Elias
Please remove Assta B. Gettu post, if you want to have a civilized and healthy discussion in this forum. If yoiu ask me why, he or she just sounds as a nazist complaining on jwish didi tha , juwish got this or that …
We must uphold our cherished value of toleration and brotherhood with followers of Islamic or Jewish faith.
elias will be the next to be on the hanging gallow
enkebaber,
I like the Amharic word “enkebaber,” which means let us respect one another; respect me and I will respect you; don’t touch me, and I will not touch you; respect my religion, and I will respect yours; “love me, love my dog.”
In the time of Emperor Haile Selassie, when there was no Amhara Kilil or Oromo Kilil or any other barrier between the other Ethiopian tribes, the word “enkebaber” was widely used by all Ethiopians, regardless of color, religion, and race; however, when Meles Seitanawi (Zenawi), supported by millions of Ethiopian Arab Muslims, came to power, Meles ordered his death squad to harass, to persecute, to imprison, and even to kill anyone who opposes his misguided leadership; then the word “enkebaber” lost its significance. Meles does not respect his subjects; his wife Jezebel does not respect her servants; the Ethiopian Parliament does not respect the Ethiopian common people except some selected Arab Muslims and some Tegarues; the Ethiopian Patriarch, Aba Paulos, does not respect the Ethiopian clergies, and I do not respect those Ethiopian Arab Muslims who marry multiple wives for the purpose of outnumbering the Ethiopian Christians and devaluating the divinity of Jesus Christ.
Only when the Ethiopian Arab Muslims and some of the Tegarues abandon their allegiance to Meles Seitanawi, then we can respect one another, and together we can defeat the Woyanne regime; other wise, we will stay apart until that final day!
Aklilu H,
Convulsing in front of Elias Kifle and pleading him to remove Assta B. Gettu’s post produces no discussion of a civilized person, but engaging Assta B. Gettu, the commentator, does.
My comment says nothing here about Jews or their religion Judaism or about Hitler or Mussolini or about the Holocaust or the Auschwitz concentration camp; however, I am so happy that Elias Kifle is not like you, a narrow minded person, and he is not going to remove what he has posted. If you have a problem with my comment, direct your concern to me, not to Elias Kifle. Do you understand? I hope you do.
@Assta B. Gettu,
Why do you focus on only Muslim Ethiopians? Your view is very wrong. According to the recent statistics, Muslims make about 35% of the population. But more than 90% of the Meles judges, cadres, soldiers, etc are not Muslims. But you still blame the Muslims. You know that almost all the Amhara cadres are Christians(starting from Addis Legese). Heger yegara haimanot yegil….even many illiterate Ethiopians know this much. But you rush to blame the entire Muslims when you see a single Muslim cadre while keeping quite when thousands of Christian Amharas fought for TPLF hoping for some ‘firifari’.
Observer,
1. Who burned many Christian Churches and confiscated their properties in the Southern region of Ethiopia? The answer is the Ethiopian Arab Muslims.
2. In 2005 Election, who brought Meles Seitanawi and his wife Jezebel to power? The answer is the Ethiopian Arab Muslims’ votes.
3. Just recently, who sentenced the five educated Ethiopians to death? The correct answer is an Ethiopian Arab Muslim – Judge Adem Ibrahim.
4. Going back to history, who slaughtered thousands of Ethiopians and destroyed valuable documents in 1543? It was an Ethiopian Arab Muslim, Gragn Muhammad supported by the Ethiopian Arab Muslims.
5. When Emperor Haile Selassie was retreating from the Italian War, who fought him on his way to Addis Ababa? The Ethiopian Arab Muslims of Wollo were the ones who tormented the retreating Christian army, and King Haile Selassie never forgot his enemies even though he did not try to harm the Wollo Arab Muslims.
6. Who runs most of the Ethiopian businesses? The answer is the Ethiopian Arab Muslims.
7. Who runs the Ethiopian gold mine in the Southern region of Ethiopia? The answer is Al Amoudi, an Ethiopian Arab Muslim.
8. Who conspired against Emperor Yohannes while he was fighting the Dirbush in Metema? The answer is the Ethiopian Arab Muslims of Wollo.
9. Who is the fastest growing population in Ethiopia today? The answer is the Ethiopian Arab Muslim population because they marry multiple wives.
10. What types of buildings are now flourishing in every region of Ethiopia? The answer is the Ethiopian Arab Muslim Mosques financed by Saudi Arabia and other Arab-Muslim countries.
Therefore, the Ethiopian Arab Muslims are the greatest future threats to the Ethiopian Christian kingdom, worst than the threats of Meles Seitanawi and other foreign enemies. If something worst happens to Ethiopia, the Ethiopian Arab Muslims are welcomed in Sudan, Somalia, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and in many other Arab-Muslim countries; however, the Ethiopian Christians are not welcomed in these Arab-Muslim countries. The only country they have is Ethiopia, and they have to fight to defend their country as they did in the past but never trust the Ethiopian Arab Muslims. The real Christian Amharas never fight for “firifari” less than for full pie – for the entire country, Ethiopia. So, my focus has always been on the Ethiopian Arab Muslims as they outnumber the Christians and spread their false religion throughout Ethiopia.
May God protect Ethiopia from its internal and external enemies!
Ato Elias, I am writing this directly for the first time to you and please I need direct answer from you to me and to all your site readers.
My question to you is one – Did you read in your clear mind comment no. 25 and decided to post it?
Shame on this guy and will also trash your site if you continue accomodiate this kind of stupidity.
Let’s be civilized Mr. Elias, we all know your hidden agenda beyond fighting the evil Meles. In most cases we are tolerant for some of your odd views however we’ll not be tolerant if you keep posting this kind of rubbish,childish and foolish hate comment.
There will be legal consequences too! REMEMBER it is part of hate crime!!!
melaku,
Following are your inappropriate words or phrases you intentionally or out of uncontrollable emotion you used:
1. shame
2. trash
3. stupidity
4. hidden agenda
5. odd views
6. rubbish
7. childish
8. foolish
9. hate comment
10. legal consequences
First of all, who designated you as the mouth piece of the Ethiopian Review’s readers and listeners to take a legal action against a commentator who strongly defends Christianity against its formidable enemies – the Muslim Jihadists and terrorists? If you believe such people don’t exist, go to Iraq, Yemen, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and even to this lovely country, the United States? You and your likes who hate Christianity are everywhere, my friend, and it is my responsibility to alert my fellow Christians before they get hurt by people like you who defend Islam that teaches violence, and if I can get help from the United States government, I will not hesitate to deport you to a country where you come from.
You try to advise Elias Kifle to be a civilized Editor; he is, but you who are confused to draw a clear distinction between hate and criticism are not, and that is why you profusely used those 10 useless words or phrases I listed above to express your obscure opinion because you have no other ways of expressing yourself.
Let me tell you the truth that Elias Kifle does not have any hidden agenda as you attest except to bring lasting peace and stability between Ethiopia and Eretria, but because of people like you who doubt his noble mission, it may take him some times to accomplish his clear goal – to liberate Ethiopia and unite Eritrea with Ethiopia on equal terms.
Merry Christmas and a prosperous New Year!
beliyu,
The gallows is for you and your likes, not for the innocent man, Elias Kifle who has been entertaining and educating millions of people the world over.
Are you one of the corrupt Woyanne people who passed a death sentence on Elias and on some other well-educated Ethiopians? If you are, may the Lord take your life tonight for wishing bad omen to Elias Kifle! Wishing death to Elias Kifle is wishing death to all of us who are blessed to have a gifted journalist, Elias Kifle. May God forgive your soul but torment your body in the Qaliti Jail!
Debebe,
Elias’ responsibility, in the art of journalism, is to post positive and opposing views to the millions of his readers, and it is up to the readers to swallow or to regurgitate the views they have read.
Yes, there is a Christian Ethiopia that granted Ethiopian citizenships to the Arab-Muslim refugees who fled Mecca and came to Ethiopia; even though some of their descendants have disappointed their host country by becoming agents of a foreign government, Christian Ethiopia has tolerated their disloyalties to a Christian Ethiopia and let them live in this land of Christianity for thousands of years. Indeed, Ethiopia has found a place for the Arab Muslims, but does Yemen have a place for some Ethiopian Christians? Does Saudi Arabia have a place for few Ethiopian Christians? But Yemen, Saudi Arabia, and other Arab-Muslim countries have plenty of places for their own likes like the Ethiopian Arab Muslims.
Therefore, the big difference between crucude [crooked] Meles Seitanawi (Zenawi) and commentator #4 is how the two individuals understand the rule of law. Meles has come to power without the consent of the Ethiopian people and continues to take away the rights of the Ethiopian citizens while commentator #4 warns Meles to follow the rule of law and give power to the people of Ethiopia. That is a big difference, my friend!
Don’t be sorry for commentator #4, and rather be sorry for your self for failing to understand the essence of Assta B. Gettu’s comment about Christian Ethiopia and about the rotten leadership of Meles Seitanawi and his wife Jezebel.