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Andualem Aragie in need of urgent medical care after prison beating

By William Davison

ADDIS ABABA (BLOOMBERG) — An imprisoned Ethiopian opposition leader needs urgent medical attention 12 days after being assaulted in his cell, former President Negasso Gidada said.

Andualem Aragie, head of public relations for the Unity for Democracy and Justice Party, was kicked in the head and beaten by a fellow prisoner on Feb. 15, Negasso, the chairman of the party, said by phone today from Addis Ababa, the capital.

Andualem, who is being tried on terrorism charges, had to be supported by prison guards when his wife went to see him, Negasso said. “He complained yesterday he has a headache and has problems with his balance,” the ex-president said. “He needs urgent treatment and examination by a private medical doctor.”

Andualem could not be examined when taken to a police hospital because the equipment was not working, according to Negasso. A prison doctor saw him last week and said he was suffering from low blood pressure, said Negasso. “No serious medical attention has been given,” he said. “His wife is very much worried. We are also very worried.”

Ethiopia’s human rights commissioner, Teruneh Zenna, said today that he would again contact the “relevant authorities” about the case, Negasso said. Teruneh did not answer his mobile phone when called seeking comment. The party also plans to write to Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, Negasso said.

The trial of Andualem and 23 others is scheduled to resume next week.

22 thoughts on “Andualem Aragie in need of urgent medical care after prison beating

  1. Fellow prisoner? Give me a break! It is the TPLF thugs who beat him up and left him with permanent head injury. Let’s hope and pray that Andualem recovers and live to tell the truth. May the grace of God restore his health and give him strength and the courage to deal with the hateful racist TPLF hoodlums. My thoughts and prayers goes out to Andualem, his parents, siblings, the rest of his family members and friends. If I feel this horrible about Andualem’s mistreatment and injustice by the hands of TPLF, I cannot even start to imagine, what his family must be going through. Death to the heartless TPLF! May God free Ethiopians from the hands of Satan!

  2. Woyane killed Professor Asrat Woldeyes by denying medication and it is no wonder if Andualem Aregie is killed by Woyane. Yenesew Gebre who burned himself, Andualem Aregie and several other who are languishing under woyane state terror only shows how hypocritical the WEST politics is – preaching peace and democracy while promoting war and terror. The victims of woyane state terrorism will be remembered by the Ethiopian people for fighting Fascist Meles like our heroes who fought fascist Mussoloni.

  3. Tax payers money will not be spent on unnecessary health care to a prisoner heading to the death sentence.

    Ethiopian replies:

    Agazi woan you are stupid and dam person.you have no right to open your dirty mouth on a beloved Ethiopian leaders case. You are not Ethiopian why do you care?

    Anonymous replies:

    Agazi woman, sooner or later the time will come, then and only then remember what you wrote. karma is a bitch.

    Manu replies:

    With statements like this, perhaps you should change your name to Agases Woman.I am sure the Agases would feel insulted!!

    Anonymous replies:

    #4 & Agazi woman,
    God is the source of Love, Compassion, Sympathy, Caring, Empathy and Kindness. It is obvious that certain people like yourselves, cannot feel the sufferings of others, because your hearts are filled with hate that lack compassion, unkindness, Hatefulness, Cruelty, Injustice, Human sufferings that comes from SATAN.

  4. This is definitely worse than US prisons! In the US they don’t hit your head unless you refuse to be sodomized.

    Tihitena replies:

    Lema you must have expirianced the US prisons to say such a thing.

  5. WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO ABOUT IT????????????????????SET DRINK CFFE,WRITE SOMTING CLEVER SO I CAN LOOK GOOD IN FRONT OF FIRENDS OR JUST WHATCH LET OUR BROTHER AND SISTERS SAFER???? WHAT TELL ME?

  6. Here is the breaking news. People have you heard ESAt Radio February 27 Monday 2012 that TPLF is sending it’s members to South Korea when it should send the family members of Ethiopian soldiers who went to South Korea during the North and South Korean conflict. So Please everybody contact the South Korean Embassy in Washington DC their phone number is 202-939,5600. Again please everybody let them know the TPLF regime is misusing the gift of Korean Tax payers money it is against the agreement so please everybody contact your area South Korean Embassy if you live in Europe do report to your local Korean Embassy we should expose to humiliate this mafia TPLF action do not minimize this mafia’s work please let us act on it. Also Elias please ask them if they kno it or not and post on your web sight their answer thank you.

    Anonymous replies:

    Stoned Peter

    It would not surprise me that TPLF mafias would misuse this south Korian gesture to Ethiopia. They have been misusing rather exploiting every opportunity available to them to themselves. The child adoption case is one such lucrative practice: They run the adoption and it is lucrative job for them.often times, children given for adoption are not those poor and helpless kids who needed safe and nurturing home, but it is those kids who need the list often times relatives of the TPLF families who have already windfall of opportunities. I have first hand information from those who knew the inside story about a woman in Addis who run adoption centers and who sent FIVE of her FIVE kids to adoption over sea.

    Every thing that happens in our country is very shocking. Once, a good friend of mine read a news story about my country and wanted me to meet somebody (an official) who happened to visit the city I was living in. Out of respect for my friend ( a white man) and not to tell him the inside story about the trouble my country find itself, I said ok, although I did not want to meet anybody coming from this mafia group. I went and meet those delegates that happened to come from ‘sister city’. That over sea sister city happened to be from Amhara region. To my surprise, there was no single Amhara, all the delegates were TIGRE. I was shocked!

    Think about who get the opportunity for further education or be an ‘exchange student’ in the west in the name of Ethiopia? They are all Tigres. How come a single ethnic ( a minority at that?) owns the nation? What is happening is unprecedented in human history, worse than South African apartheid, in that it is more elusive.

    Hu replies:

    Time and again, you are showing your hateredness towards Tigrians. The fact is these people paid their life, and they are like the other people in Ethiopia!

    Tizibit replies:

    Hu, I suppose you think only Tigres deserve all the benefits. Are you claiming that only Tigres paid with their lives for their country Ethiopia? Or are you trying to tell us that Tigres deserve special treatment as they are the chosen people? No one is your fool. Lies don’t become truth just because they are repeated over and over again. TPLF did not pay with their lives for Ethiopia – they paid with their lives for Eritrea, which had also helped them.

  7. I do not know, there is some kind of catastrophic gene mutation that we are not descendants from Heric Aste Tewedros/Alula Aba Nega/Abdisa Aba Nega…. Whatever Woyane did, whatever Woyane killed our brithers, sisters,…, whatever heroic Yenassew burnt/sacrificed himself to show us the road to freedom, we are still sleeping, talking a talk, really we are tired of thinking about the coming of that lucky day…lol

  8. I feel sorry for this guy. I really do. He was used and wrongly emboldened by some groups with a sinister agenda to be their firebrand. Now none of them have the power either politically or diplomatically to have him go free. What is this I heard that he is now crying? Has he read the story of our legendary hero Abune Petros who looked straight in the eyes of his shooters in that moment of his final fate? How about the story of Amoraw, Ras Desta Damtew, Emperors Yohannes IV, Tewodros and many gallant countrymen who never flinch or cried to the bitter end? I say release him and is not worth the expense to keep him in jail. He is crying!!!! Let him go!!!!

  9. You TANGO!!!

    Why are you upset? I did not say anything to cause such a diatribe from you. It is all fact. But remember this: You are acting as a hero now because you know you are doing it from a comfy of you home here in the West. Don’t take me wrong. This person, Andualem, seemed to have a potential to be at a disposal of the glorious peoples of Ethiopia in the correct way of construction and not that of destruction to which he was misled by some sinister groups. It is high time in our country for construction, construction, construction in all sectors of the industry and agriculture. It is one in a lifetime opportunity for all of us to do our part and take those poor people out of abject destitution. Yes it is true that some individuals have become very rich. So what? It is a capitalist free market that reigns the economy which a revered system available. It is a battle tested economy which has beaten the socialist system hands down in a fair fight that lasted over 8 decades. You work hard and in the process you accumulate wealth. Where is the fallacy in that? All of you listen to me. You should leave politics to the legitimately elected officials. Let them duke it out among themselves. We have a lot of work cut out for us. A lot of effort is needed to harness nature for the good of the people. Mountains need to be torn down; Rivers has to be turned into fountains of progress!!!! Our motherland has a lot of good surprises holding up in its womb since its inception. It is untapped because our people were never lucky enough to have sustained peace and stability to take advantage of their possession hidden deep below the ground. Generations come and go but development will stay on passing from one to another. No one lives forever. So what I highly suggest to Ato Andualem is ask the peoples of Ethiopia for forgiveness. Our peoples are bighearted and they will forgive him so he can go out to do something economically beneficial to them.

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