By Barry Malone
ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) – An Ethiopian opposition leader said on Tuesday an anti-government plot had been invented as an excuse to arrest potential candidates ahead of national elections next year.
“Without third party verification I can’t believe there was a plot,” Bulcha Demeksa, leader of one of the largest opposition parties, the Oromo Federalist Democratic Movement, told Reuters.
“This government is just looking for an excuse to imprison potential politicians.”
Prime Minister Meles Zenawi’s government said last month a group led by an Ethiopian professor, Dr {www:Berhanu Nega}, had planned to use assassinations and bombings to provoke street protests and topple the government.
The Meles regime arrested 40 former and current army personnel and members of a disbanded opposition group from a “terror network” it said was formed by Berhanu Nega, an opposition leader now teaching economics in the United States.
[The detainees include an 80-year-old father of one an opposition party leader who recently went through a heart bypass surgery.]
The Bucknell University lecturer, who has publicly said he wants to overthrow the Ethiopian government, has called the accusations “baseless”.
“When Berhanu says he wants to overthrow the government, it is just words,” said Bulcha.
“He couldn’t have organised these people from the U.S.”
Former Ethiopian president Negaso Gidada, now an independent member of parliament, also told Reuters he doubted Berhanu’s involvement, but said the government was using the alleged plot to root out dissenters in its military.
“There is no democracy in Ethiopia,” added Negaso, citing recent legislation governing the activities of charities and the media that rights groups have condemned as repressive.
COURT PROCESS
The Ethiopian government’s head of information, Bereket Simon, told Reuters that evidence was being prepared and the accused would appear in court on May 11.
“Nobody has any right to prejudge the evidence and undermine the rule of law,” he said.
Opposition parties routinely accuse the government of harassment and say their candidates were intimidated during local elections in April of last year.
The government denies that.
Another opposition leader, Birtukan Mideksa, a former judge who heads the Unity for Democracy and Justice party, has been in solitary confinement since December.
She was jailed after a disputed 2005 poll, with Berhanu and other opposition leaders, when the government accused them of instigating riots in Addis Ababa in an attempt to take power.
About 200 opposition protesters were killed by soldiers and police in violence that followed.
Mideksa and Berhanu were released in a 2007 pardon, but she was re-arrested last year after the government said she had violated the terms of the pardon.
Meles was hailed as part of a new generation of African leaders in the 1990s, but rights groups have increasingly criticised the rebel-turned-leader for cracking down on opposition in sub-Saharan Africa’s second most populous nation.
The party that wins next June’s parliamentary election will pick the prime minister. Meles is expected to win comfortably.
Ethiopia’s political climate is closely watched by foreign investors showing increasing interest in agriculture, horticulture and real estate prospects.
The nation’s economic progress has been hampered of late by high inflation and a fall in foreign exchange inflows.
The country is one of the world’s poorest, ranked 170 out of 177 on the United Nations Human Development Index, and one of the largest recipients of international aid.
“Humanitarian aid should be continued, but development assistance should be conditional on a country being democratic,” said Bulcha. “How can you imprison and kill your people and have the world treat you like a democracy?” (Editing by Andrew Cawthorne)
10 thoughts on “Anti-gov’t plot was fabricated – Bulcha Demeksa”
Bulcha Demeksa,
God bless you. A man of intellect, truth, the whole truth. If Ethiopia produces many of your kinds we wouldn’t have miserable regimes one after the other. Keep up the heat on something must whack or crack along the way.
“How can you imprison and kill your people and have the world treat you like a democracy?” indeed,this is what we need to expose about the west support of these liars leba woyanne. they should not get away with confusing the world telling lies and claiming they are democratic anymore. woyane got to go! by any means necessary.
ከዚህ ቀደም ደግመን ደጋግመን እንደገለፅነው ግንቦት 7 ማንኛውንም ለነፃነት የሚደረግ እንቅስቃሴ ይደግፋል፡፡ ታጋዮቹንም ያከብራል፡፡ ጀግንነታቸውን
ያደንቃል፡፡
አሁን በኢትዮጵያችን ውስጥ ባለው አፈናና የኑሮ ውድነት ምክንያት በራስና በተለይም በወገን ላይ በሚደረግ ሰቆቃ ተማረው በግልም ሆነ በቡድን
ተነሳስተው በዚህ ዘረኛና አጥፍቶ ጠፊ የወንበዴ ቡድን ላይ እርምጃ ሲወሰድ አይገርመንም፡፡ ይህንን መሳይ ትግል ለሚያደርጉ ሁሉ ከፍተኛ አክብሮትና ወገናዊነት
እንዲሚሰማን እንደገና ለማረጋገጥ እንወዳለን፡፡
ግንቦት 7 እስከአሁን ይፋ በወጣ ትግል ያልጀመረው አስፈላጊ ዝግጅቶች ባለመደረጋቸው ሳይሆን በወገን ላይ ሊደርስ የሚችለውን ጉዳትና ኪሳራ
በሚቻለው መጠን ለማስወገድ ይህም ካልሆነ ለመቀነስ በማሰብ ነው፡፡
ግንቦት 7 ይህንን ለማድረግ የሚያስችል የትግል ስልት ማጠናቀቁን እነመለስ ያውቁታል፡፡ አውቀውም ነው ይይዙት ይጨብጡት ያጡት፡፡ እነመለስ
ሊደርሱበት የማይቻላቸው ሰፊና ሁሉን አቀፍ አደረጃጀት በመሆኑ ነው እየተርበተበቱና የሚይዙት የሚጨብጡት የጠፋቸው፡፡ ከመደናገጣቸውም የተነሳ እጃቸው
ያረፈባቸውን ወይም በሌላ ሁኔታ ያልተስሟሟቸውን ሰብስበው እስር ቤት ያጎሩት፡፡ የ 80ና የ90 አመት አዛውንቶችን ማጥቃት የጀመሩት፡፡ ከፈሪና ከባለጌ ድሮስ
ከዚህ የተለየ ምን ይጠበቃል? ያም ሆኖ ግንቦት 7 ለዚህ አኩይ የወያኔ ተግባር ሰበብ መደረጉ እጅግ ያሳዝነዋል፡፡
የግንቦት 7ትና የአጋሮቹ የተደራጀ እንቅስቃሴማ መኻሉን አካቶ ከዛላ አንበሳ እስከ ሞያሌ፤ ከጂካዎ እስከ ቀብሪደሐር በአንዴ ሲነሳበት በቀናት ውስጥ
እንደሚያልቅለት የሚያውቀው ወያኔ ማጣፊያው እየጠፋበት ነው፡፡
በተለይም ከውጭና ከውስጥ የሚደረጉ ጫናዎች በበረቱበትና እነዚህን ዘረኞች መያዣ መጨበጫ ባሳጡበት ወቅት፤ በአገርና በሕዝብ ላይ ባደረሱት
ጭፍጨፋ አለምአቀፍ ወንጀለኞች በመሆናቸው መሸሻ እንደሌላቸው ያወቁ የአልሞት ባይ ተጋዳይ መፍጨርጨር ከፍተኛ ጉዳት ሊያስከትል ስለሚችል ከፍተኛ
ጥንቃቄ ማድረግ የግድ ይላል፡፡
ግንቦት 7 በአሁኑ ጊዜ የሚጨነቀው ለወያኔ መወገድ አይደለም፡፡ ይህ ያለቀለት ጉዳይ በመሆኑ፡፡ ግንቦት 7ትን እጅግ የሚያሳስበው ከወዲሁ በቂ ዝግጅት
ካልተደረገ ወያኔ በወደቀ ማግስት ሊደርስ የሚችለውን ግርግርና ሊከሰት የሚችለው አደጋ ነው፡፡
በዚህም ቢሆን ሊደርስ የሚችለውን ግርግር ገትቶ የተረጋጋ የስልጣን ሽግግር ሊደረግ የሚችልበትን ሥርዓት ከመንደፍ አኳያም የግንቦት 7 ንቅናቄአችሁ
ከህዝብ ጋር እየተወያየ፤ ከትግል አጋሮቹ ጋር እየተመካከረ ሕዝብ እውነተኛው የሥልጣን ባለቤትነቱን የሚያረጋግጥበት፤ ከአሁን በኋላ እሱ ያልፈቀደውና
ያልመረጠው ሥልጣኑን እንዳይቀማው የሚያረጋግጥ ሥርዓት ለማዋቀር የሚያስችል ዝግጅትም እየተከናወነ መሆኑን ነው፡፡
እዚህ ላይ እጅግ አበረታች የሆነው ነገር አጋሮቻችንና ሌሎች የነፃነት ታጋዮች ሁሉ በዚህ ጉዳይ ላይ ፍፁማዊ መግባባት ላይ የደረሱ በመሆኑ ሁሉን
አቀፍና አሳታፊ ተግባራ እየተከናወነ መሆኑን ነው፡፡
thank you ato bulcha for exposing the dictatorship from the inside.
the americans and europeans are giving credit to woyane and ignoring our cry. the american embassy don’t care when ginbot 7 or onlf expose woyane so it is important that opposition MPs expose the regime from the inside.
let it be known that woyane is the biggest lier and deceitful regime in the whole universe.
Another fake election is coming and the winner is going to be ……….ofcorse woyanee.
The one n the only option we have is buw buwww buwww u know what I’m talking bout
Viva OLF!
Kudos Bulcha Demeksa !!
This man makes me very proud as an Oromo and as an Ethiopian. From his comments above I can tell he is willing to put his life on the line to live in peace with his other brothers and sisters of the Afar, Somalis, Wolaitas, Kafichos, Anuaks, Amharas and all the rest of nationalities living in that beloved country we dearly call Ethiopia. God Bless and Protect him and his family!!!!
I happened to watch Ethiopian TV and I realized that Ato Bulcha is very honest person,even Ato Melese used to tell him”Thank you for your honesty”all the times.I truely believe this man because he is genuine.What Ato Bulcha told to the reporter would be a very good witness for the false accusation.
Thanks Ato Bulcha for exposing the hidden agenda.
Why can’t the rest of Ethiopian oppositions support people like Mr. Bulcha, to lead the Democratic causes in Ethiopia, Instead of each of you looking for one of your own tribe?
As long as Ethiopian politices is about if not my tribe I will not support the cause, then you guys will never reach a full democracy that you all dream about.
It is time for the killers and liers, Legesse and his boss Bereket, put in the prisons they built and rot to death; it is time for peace and reconciliation when these butchers, looters, and their mafia family are eradicated from the face of Ethiopia!