By Lula Ahrens | ROI
A resident of the Dutch town of Haarlem was sentenced to death by an Ethiopian court on Tuesday. He was found guilty of disrespect for the Ethiopian constitution and, along with four other people, for attempting a coup. But Mesfin Aman is not worried about his safety. “I have an official refugee status, and the Dutch government knows what’s going on in my home country.”
Four of the five people charged have been convicted in absentia after fleeing abroad. Melaku Teffera, however, is being held in Ethiopia. “I am very sorry to say that he will have to face his sentence,” Mesfin Aman told Radio Netherlands. “I’ve talked to the other four convicts. They are safe, like me, because they have the same refugee status. One of them is in the UK, the other three are in the US.”
Mesfin has lived in the Netherlands as a fugitive since 2006. He is currently finishing his MBA at the Amsterdam Business School. “After the 2005 election protests, in which I took part, the UN High Commissioner invited me to stay in the Netherlands as a political refugee. I have an invited refugee status and a residence permit. I do not have the Dutch nationality yet. For that I’ll have to wait for another two years.”
The 30-year-old student heard the news on Tuesday when he was called by Andargachew Tsige, one of his fellow defendants. He then checked the news on-line and realized it was true. Aman is confident that he won’t have to face his sentence: “The Dutch government follows the standard international rules and would never extradite me. They know what’s going on in Ethiopia.”
Aman has been politically active since he was a teenager. He chose to study political science and fight for democracy, despite the obvious dangers. “The government considers all opinions different from their own as disrespect for the constitution and a threat to their existence. They use phrases like ‘attempted coup’ to justify their killing of opposition members.”
In 2001, he spent several months in solitary confinement after he took part in a protest against the regime of the Ethiopian Prime Minister, Meles Zenawi. In the aftermath of the elections in 2005, he again spent several weeks in solitary confinement, after which he was released on bail. He escaped to Kenya, and then to the Netherlands.
“That same year, the Ethiopian government sentenced me for life along with several other opposition leaders. The others were later pardoned and were asked to sign a pardon letter. Because I was in the Netherlands, I didn’t know of the letter and couldn’t sign. That’s why I have now been given this death sentence. It’s a bizarre story.”
The refugee has not yet spoken to the Dutch government about his death sentence, but he is planning to contact the Foreign Affairs Ministry to inform them.
The most important factor in the Ethiopian government’s behaviour, he says, is “ethnic domination”.
“In Ethiopia, we have 80 million people from five ethnic groups. Political power is concentrated in the hands of one ethnic group, which accounts for around 6 percent of the population. That causes a huge political imbalance.”
8 thoughts on “Dutch resident sentenced to death in Ethiopia”
This reminds me of Mengistu “SHASHO”‘s time. He used to do the same thing until he ran away to save his black ass. These Tigrean bandas are doing the same thing now, because it is their time. They killed the Amharas, the Oromos, the Gurages, the Sidamas, the Gambellas, the Somalis, the Eritreans, etc. Time will change soon and we will see where these rats are going to hide. We in our turn will find these rats and punish them all accordingly.
80 million from 5 ethinic groups? Some thing I missed here, or the guy was from another country than ethiopia.
Anyways, thanks God he is safe and out
If I was Mesfin I would watch my back and examine who I associate with. Money hungry sick weyane cadres will not hesitate to feed Mesfin or whoever in trheir way a rat poison.
Guys could you please let me know which are the 5 ethinic groups in ethiopia. I didn’t get it honestly as far as I know ethiopia is a country that has more than 80 ethnicity.
When he say five ethnic groups I think he is talking about the Main ethnic groups. The rest are sub-ethnic groups because they are few in numbers. Number is power when it comes to politics.
I am glad to see the comment on aba mela #1 he is right because everybody hates weyane, and we all are waiting for their eradication, but it takes much more time than we expected but it will happen soon possible.
Temam, where do you get your ideas from? You said that other than the 5 major ethnic groups, the rest are sub-ethnic and few in numbers. Almost all the ethnic groups have their own language, culture, way of life, etc. and where did you get this sub-ethnic groups stuff? And your last statement is just naive and at best childish. Did the dergue came to power because of numbers? How about the Meles group? Tigreans make less than four percent of the population and they control the power. Oromos are the largest ethnic group and they are still fighting. Before you try to jot down something, please read and educate yourself.
I know mesfin from my days in aau,I know him to be a decent well-spoken and courageous man. I have seen with my own eyes that the weyene tugs did not intimidate mesfine and others form their quest of freedom during the aau movements, therefore I presume the cross border bravado will not intimidate our heroes like mesfinea.Brovo mesfinea they have rather testified that your method of struggle sent shiver in weyene quarters. And this is the beginning of the end.