Meles Zenawi’s regime in Ethiopia has so far this week rounded up and thrown in jail over 200 members of Medrek, a coalition of eight opposition parties.
Most of the detainees are from the Oromo People’s Congress (OPC) and the Oromo Federal Democratic Movement (OFDM).
According to Medrek secretary general, 217 OFDM and 40 OPC members have been arrested this week. The whereabouts of many of the detainees are not known.
The Meles regime is rounding up opposition members in a preemptive action to prevent the popular uprising that is sweeping through northern Africa and the Middle East from erupting in Ethiopia.
Meles is also purging some of his own officials in the Oromo People’s Democratic Organization (OPDO), a member of the ruling Woyanne coalition. It’s reported that over 150 high- and mid-ranking OPDO officials have been arrested in during the past few days and charged with corruption.
Meanwhile, at least two youth groups, Ethiopian Revolution May 2011 and YeDil Qen, are preparing for nationwide protests to be launched on May 28, 2011. Their Facebook sites are attracting thousands of members.
In Ethiopia’s capital Addis Ababa, food prices are increasing by the day, and sugar and oil are in scarce supply.
22 thoughts on “Over 200 opposition members arrested in Ethiopia”
Why is he doing that unless he likes them to join OLF! Some will escape and get a chance to fight back; some are detained jest same charge as Seye was politics ya an attempt to incite divert redirect around Ethiopia making Ethiopian people miss this ongoing 2011 revolution by “gere gere le leba yemechale”! What was that incited lovely people in Jimma who have Waqaa tu beekaa jallaalaani jiraataani gere gere le leba yemechale yebale yele!
Besides this subject,
Combinations of high illiteracy with limited rest rooms with limited tissue papers likely than not many people use newspaper school paper and paper for many purposes. Woyanes take the hard cover of religious book and leave some of pages a person may not notice what he or she were using. Then Woyane cadres use campaign tactics to incite (ende: balena meset mekal muqe wua mafesese) religious clash and use that to market Woyane organizations importance to impress audiences to gain favor, by falsely present his subjects as common adversary. Jest like it has semblances of a situation that people talk about Woyane did in market to gain followers, and the crimes against humanity he is accused of committed by committing crimes and video taping it as if other third part did it for argumentum ad populum, and that is without mentioning many such as Gamebela Genocide mention by Genocide Watch!
Meles is delaying the inevitable if only by a few days. The people of Ethiopia from all walks of life are getting angrier and will rise sooner than he thinks.
Meles knows very well the potential political quake a possible action by the oromo people can cause. He is just trying to block points of eruptions he could anticipate. Anyways, let us wait and see how far the action of his model Gadafi of Libiya will go.
why not Mederk call out for protest to demand the release of all political prisoners ? what are they waiting for? This is an opportune time for them to call for protest. The people are itching for a cause.
I believe Meles is removing moderate Oromos from the political scene deliberately to intensify and polarize the political environment. When there is a polarized political atmosphere and more divided apart society, then Meles and TPLF can easily work on their fear-mongering rhetoric and prolong their life.
Meles is the most heartless inhuman tyrant than the Egyptian, Libyan, Yemeni and the Tunisian dictators put together.
Please! I beg and urge Ethiopians to write open letters to President Obama — to the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon — to US Ambassador to the United Nation–Dr. Susan Rice — to Secretary Hilary Clinton and former president Bill Clinton — to New York times — to CNN and others.
I am afraid unless the mentally unstable, paranoid and out of control African Hitler Meles stopped as soon as possible, we are going to witness the deaths of hundreds of thousands of innocent Ethiopians. Where is the UN and USA? Why not stop the mad man now before he goes on again on a killing spree?
We should all condemn and expose this latest aggression by the goon from Dedebit in our strongest terms for jailing members of the opposition. In regards to those members of his lackey tentacles of the OPDO, I called to find out who those people were and how they have demonstrated themselves to the people as officials of the Oromia state. I talked to someone in the capital and another one outside the capital. The response was synonymous. Those OPDO members were so corrupt and emboldened by this act that they were hated by their own community. An OPDO member who did not have enough money in his pocket to feed himself or his family once a day everyday just yesterday becomes an owner of a high rise building today, amass a fat bank account from zero balance at 10:00 O’clock in the morning to a million birr at 5:00 O’clock just in time before the bank closes, you have no chance of having an audience with him unless you grease his palm first and he can concoct any reason to disqualify you from an ownership of a property or relationship(Including your wife/fiancé) at a moment’s notice, these are the wicked behaviors of these now purged OPDO members. I would not interfere in this intra-gang altercation. In fact, I am going to sit back and enjoy the show I have been waiting for. But I urge those leaders of the opposition groups and members of the Diaspora to expose out loud the detention of their members.
Well, the ruthless tyrant who has always been commanding and dictating with preemptive ruthlessness knows that this so called opposition movements are reactive and mainly chatter boxes devoid of having a united proactive action.
Most importantly, the dictator has no imagination or any traces of creativity but only depends on his usual brutal force of the last 20 years that have become very familiar to all the opposition groups who are not able to learn anything from the situations in the past or present.
Why shouldn’t the fluffy Ethiopian opposition go and get just few hours of advices and elementary lessons form the North African school kids who have gotten up and overthrown even the most brutal over armed and overfed entrenched dictator who was also friend of the super power similar to the Ethiopian dictator.
Ever across the sea in Yemen people are sustainably up against a brutal dictator regardless of being killed, wounded, jailed, threatened and abused to the extreme.
If you have to be dragged from your beds offices and shops to be tortured, jailed and killed with out lifting your small fingers and saying a word about the tyrants brutalities why is it difficult to get adequately organized and fight the brutal killer dictator?
No external powers will come to cry for people who are not willing to fight on their own behalf. But surely they can be forced or even willingly fight on behalf and in support all those who are first and foremost fighting on their own people’s behalf taking all the risks and showing road.
Ittu Abafarda,
Personally I have no sympathy for OPDO but your blatant lies have no boundary.
Are you telling us now that these OPDO memebers who in fact only obay tplf strict commands are more corrupt then dictator Meles, his wife Azeb and all the other tplf business tycoons robbing the entire human and material resourcees of Ethiopia and still stay above the law of the land that is simple tplf law.
Don’t insult our intelligence by giving us your oath freely just like that medieval despot always using all the excuses he can invent in order to terrorize his current and potential political competitors and by that criminal act dreaming to escape from the peoples’ growing outrage.
May be you phoned and asked Azeb Mesfin and a few tplf gang members claiming to be OPDO members.
Please lie just a little bit modestly even if you are a professional lair.
“A liar freely gives his oath.” Oriental proverb
Feel The Power Of People,feel the revolution:Panic-striken Zinawi has passed many sleepless nights and is on the verge of breakdown.When the blood thristy, Zinawi woke up the next day,he sent 200 members of the opposition to jail.But this is not a remedy for staying on power neither red pepper and garlic are.
The clock is ticking,ticking,and ticking;there are two options left for Meles Zinawi,to relinquish power to the people or face the fate different from Gadhafi because Zinawi’s fate will be worse than the fate Gadhafi meets.
Meles Zinawi,feel the power of people,feel the power of the revolutioon because there is little chance to escape from the pounding feast of Ethiopians.Zinawi,feel it now pray later.
Dear Debritu,
You must have misread my comment. This is an altercation among looters. We should analyze factors that led to this action. It involves an area where it is well known that the Goon from Dedebit and his ever corrupt wife have found stakes. The problem is some of these looters around OPDO may have read it ‘wrong’. And that did not go well with the Meles’ jackass Aba Duula. Then you have this. Like I mentioned in my previous comment, I am going to relax and watch March Madness, Meles and Aba Duula style.
By the way, where did you get this idea that I support this goon from Adwa and his untidy wife? You should bite your tongue before saying that. I think you are so confused or on something.
Meles,surrender now pray later!
Meles and the elements around him,having speculated to what would happen to them and to the system that they built tweny years ago,preemptively reacted and took 200 men and women to jails.Dictators are prone to anxiety chiefly because of the crimes that they committed against people and the fear of standing before the international criminal court.
Ya ijoollee Oromoo, mee ija banaannee ae’laalu,
No body thought or predicted for Northern African and Middle East “presidents for life” to be humiliated and face the consequences of their dictatorial and repressive actions they committed against their own people. The day came and those dictators who appeared as strong as the Egyptian pyramids were blown away to pieces. The same predicament is on corner for the dictatorial regime of Meles. Nothing more nothing less.
As for us the Oromos, yes we had been on this road before. Therefore, no body, but no body can tell us how to walk on this thin line. We do have ample experiences, and let’s put those familiarities and knowledge to serve in the best interest of our nations. Remember: There is time to be happy, and there is time to be individualistic, and there is time to bicker at each other, and there is time to be an Oromo. Just a pure Oromo, and that time is now.
Asalaam Aleikum,
Yaadasaa
Th situation in Libya has now reached the point of No-return;it is only marching forward for a victory.The mindset of Gadhaffi since he took power was and still is that he considered Libya and Libyans as if they were,and are his own properties;ownership over the country and the people.
Since the beginning of the Libyan people uprising against Gadhaffi’s savage regime,cracks were formed along the ground that Gadhaffi and his mersinaries stood on;Gadhaffi,of course,felt it,but pretended to have had felt nothing to worry but the feel of love touched him;then,when he nolonger could have a place to run to and hide,he began to do crazy things and moments later he launched war against his own people.life and properties perished and destroyed;moreover,Gadhaffi,42 years of ownership over millions of Libyans and billions of dollars in his Bank Account were not enough to satsfy his life into the future;he is over 72 years old and millions of gallons of blood in his hand,and insisted that Libyans were and still are to abide by the contract negotation that he claimed they gave him to own them for a life.The truth as it is anchored on the facts,on the ground,and on the globe is showing that the world community is standing with Libyans and all paricipatory friendship between the Libyans and the rest of the world is now close to end with victory.Meles Zinawi too has identical mindset as that of Gadhaffi;contract,contract,contract;well,Ethiopians’life is non-negotatible.
217+40=257 opposition members and supporters and
150 OPDO members are arrested by tplf members within the last few days.
We know that these prisoners will be tortured at maekelawi prison or any other secret place.
Tplf members are treatings us like their own farm animals. They can toase, fry ,chew or they can throw us like a trash. They degrade us and humilate us.
“Gobeze”,
we have to defend our dignity and die for it. There is no law,no justice in woyane’s compound.
Take the justice in your own hand. Eye for an eye.
Prefer to defend at your door and die for your dignity. Otherwise you will be tortured and die at tplf torure camps voluntarily. Dear Ethiopians please do not cheat yourself as if there is a law,justice and government Ethiopia.
Well, Meles and his group have no choice but live in fear.
As the world is changing, as the the tald of terrorist group is getting meaningless, Mr. Meles is becoming naked, all his claim becoming untrue. It is a matter of time that his friends going to abadon him. It is time for we Ethiopians to come together and express our anger via demonstration, the rest will be taken care by the military. Meles, leave alone the military, he doesn’t trust his own wife right now.
Dictators don’t know the word ENOUGH;rather,they do know more:more blood,more wealth,more and more sufferings to the people they rule.Meles Zinawi is currently disoriented and confused;confused because of denal of the reality that of Ethiopians will rise to seek freedom and justice.
Recently,Meles Zinawi in the interview he gave in Amharic,which was a set up for luring the audiance and the listeners of both domestic and internal into his deceptive words that in return leading him to making cnfusions amongest Ethiopians.Ethiopians are not fool enough to believe or to take his word for granted.Period.
He said that he and his gangs surrounding him are sick and tired of jailing and releasing political opposition members and Ethiopians in general,but he did not mention that millions of Ethiopians have been sick,sick,sick,and sick of him violating their basic rights and destroying the lives of millions.
Whether he likes it or not or accepts it or rejects it,there is always peoples’ uprising against him and his savage regime;therefore,what Ethiopinas have been starting fighting him for years will end in victory.The reality speaks for itself regardless of Meles’s deafness.
The difference is that,corruption is, mixing business with pleasure i.e wasting matrial resources,wasting production time,wasting money,seeking sexual favouritism,abusing young girls and women, and subjucting citizens to injusice.The highest stage of corruption is looting,which in return leads to robbery;robbing off national and peoples’ resources and committing genocide.OPDO,how much is EPRDF? and how much fatty is? or how much has EPRDF fattened OPDO?
The broad mass of the population is now robbed off its resources and freedom;therefore,whoever has been involved in corruption And or Or looting,whether an individual or groups shall be subjected to a fateful justice.This is why Meles Zinawi is rumbling and tumbling around throwing filthy and foul words on Ethiopians to get by his crimes.
What did Gadhaffi did to escape from being brought to justice? He just continued killing his own people;now,where is he now and what will be his fate? OPDO knows,EPRDF knows,and all assortments of the system’s beneficiaries know as well.What will be the consequences of those who involved in dispecable crimes that Zinawi and his followers committed against Ethiopians? All humanbeings know.
By the way;
Hi,there guyas! EPRDF not only has been a ferocious beast ,it has a magnetic property;it attracts the weak and the irrisponsibles and take them with it into savagery to do what is needed to keep it ruling Ethiopians.Above all,assuming that Meles Zinawi will escape from the crime that he committed and will flee the country along with his partners in crime is the most deadly mistake any individual or groups think of.This is why the emphasis has been made to join people’s movement and think the rest later.
Again guays,if you are asked to name someone whom you know and has committed wicked crimes against Ethiopians,who would be that person?
Some of you or even all of you could have been or have been self-taught;you learned how to ride a bike or you learned how to cook your favourite food;but not Meles Zinawi.Meles Zinawi learned how to loot and murder Ethiopia and Ethiopians from the close ones who came and went before him;simply put,he was inspired by the anti-Ethiopia work and deed of varieties of Ethiopia’s enemies including Fascist Italians.Guys,you wouldn’t want or think of having someone as your rolemodel who committed repeated crimes and genocides against Ethiopoians.
By the way,guys! all of you have heard or watched Meles Zinawi gruntling like a young pig.Have you ever amuzed or purplexed why?
I was amzed and puplexed once and thought why Dictators never had learned from the failure of other dictators and why all dictators,including the one you hate most wanted to stay on power.I then had this thought of giving answer to myself and share the information with you;you know what! all Dictators have identical mind set;they think and fully convinced that the people and the country they rule with firm brual feast as their own personal property bought on a contract bassis that can never be compromised;isn’t this funny and laughable? billions of dollars in their Bank Account and tones of blood in their hand,isn’t this enough to bring them to international criminal court? Look guys,Meles Zinawi,has already become one of the wealthiest criminal dictators among the dictators in the world;doesn’t he have a piece of brain to think of the murdered and the imporisoned and think of relinquishing power to Ethiopians?
On the contrary,freedom can not be obtained by begging dicators.This is why the oppressed and suppressed people like Ethiopians,Tunisians,Egyptians,and the rest who shared identical experiences embarked on a revolutionary vision with freedom to all in mind.Tunisians did it,Egyptians did it,Libyans are doing it,Yemenees and others are doing it;now,now the proud Ethiopians are on preparation to embark on seeking total freedom from the brutal grip of Meles Zinawi.
Ladies and Gentlemen,may I ask you,your gut feeling – You know who won in Tunisia and Egypt and who will win in Libya and Ethiopia.Arn’t Meles Zinawi and his gangs urinating on Ehtiopians? And is it fair?
VICTORY WILL BE FOR THE PEOPLE OF ETHIOPIA!!!!!!!
OUR FATHERS HAVE WON AGAINST INVADERS IN THE PAST AND OUE GENERATION SHOULD WIN AGAINST MELES. IF WE AGREE TO STAND TOGETHER AND FIGHT TO THE BITTER END, THE VICTORY WILL BE OURS.
PLEASE, LET US AVOID UNNECESSARY SQUABLES (POLITICAL AND LEADERSHIP INFIGHTING) WHICH MAY GIVE A LEE WAY TO MELES ZENAWI WHO HAS KILLED OUR FELLOW CITIZENS FOR STANDING UP AGAINST HIS BARBARIC RULE. AT THE MOMENT, REMOVING MELES SHOULD BE OUR PRIMARY FOCUS AND CREATING A DEMOCRATIC INSTITUTION HAVE TO BE THE GOLDEN GOAL.
LET US ACKNOWLEDGE FIRST AND FOR MOST THAT WE ARE A DIVERSE PEOPLE AND OUR BELOVED ETHIOPIA IS SUPERIOR TO INDIVIDUAL TRIBE, RELIGION, LANGUAGE AND REGION. IF WE PUT ETHIOPIA FIRST, THERE WOULD BE NOTHING TO STOP US FROM RESTORING ETHIOPIA TO ITS FORMER POSITION IN THE WORLD ORDER……. ETHIOPIA IS THE PRIDE OF AFRICA AND ITS CITIZENS ARE THE MOST BEAUTIFUL, TOLERANT AND GOD FEARING PEOPLE.
MAY GOD BLESS ETHIOPIA AND ETHIOPIANS FOR EVER. AMEN.
No open letters to O-Bamia, YeEthiopia Amlak or Clinton (marinated Cigar) is going to make an iota of difference. Fight for your right! The West is interested only in one thing – human rights (spelled as O I L) and there is non in Ethiopia. So look in wards for ways of removing the tyrant. Be prepared to die for your dignity.
Obo yaadasaa,
What do you mean by ‘pure Oromo’? Is there ‘purified’ Oromo that has gone through the process similar to the one that produces ‘purified’ butter.? Or are you saying that there is an ‘Oromo’ way of thinking? You owe us all an explanation.
Wow! Meles is the little brother of Satan! He out smarts many; however, he is meeting his demise soon; the Ethiopian people. All this terrorism, religion tension talks and other rumors spring and orchestrated by his army and cadres. More so, by his cadres. I could not believe that I lived to see the day that I come to prefer the cruel and murderous regime of Mengistu over this devil, Meles.
We have one life to live; what are we waiting for? We need to help and finance the fall of this tyrant today. Long live Emama Ethiopia and freedom for her children!!!