AFP, June 25, 2007 (ADDIS ABABA) — Ethiopian opposition leaders convicted after violent protests in the wake of contested 2005 elections have admitted their “mistakes,” their lawyer said Sunday.
The lawyer said the thirty-eight accused, convicted by the High Court on June 11 for violating the constitution and trying to launch a rebellion, had signed a document to accept responsibility for the violence — a move that could prompt their release.
“All the convicted 38 have agreed and signed a document accepting responsibility over the post-election violence. They have acknowledged to have made mistakes at that time,” lawyer Wondawuk Ayele told AFP.B
But the spokesman for Prime Minister Meles Zenawi on Sunday denied that a deal had been struck for the activists’ release.
“So far there hasn’t been any proposal from the government, nor has there been any mediation involving any other country,” Bereket Simon said.
“I’m not aware of any developments regarding their release,” Bereket added.
An Ethiopian woman who said she was kept as an indentured servant in a Potomac home for four years won a $61,000 federal jury verdict against her employers on claims of unjust enrichment.
Fikre Wondimante’s lawyers consider this judgment a win even though they had hoped for something in the ballpark of $200,000 plus punitive damages and attorneys’ fees.
However, the defendants are also claiming victory.
“With $60,000, we won,” said David C. Simmons, lawyer for Fana and Meherete Assefa, two sisters named as defendants in the lawsuit. “We won big time. We offered to settle the case for much more than that.”
Wondimante filed suit against the Assefas under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act and the Maryland Wage and Hour Law, but the sisters prevailed on those claims. The jury in U.S. District Court in Greenbelt found in the plaintiff’s favor only on the unjust enrichment claim.
Wondimante’s August 2004 complaint alleged that the Assefas, both naturalized U.S. citizens, brought her over from their home country to work for a salary of $200 a month.
The plaintiff said she worked from 8 a.m. until 11 p.m. each day, cooking, cleaning and caring for the Assefas’ mother. Over the four years she lived in the home, she claims to have worked 22,000 hours for just $2,000 in pay. She says she left after seeking help from a distant relative living in Washington, D.C.
“There was a lot of mud slung, and it’s hard to say what affect that had on the jury and if that was a significant factor in the verdict,” said Wondimante’s pro bono lawyer, Donald Salzman. “Obviously the verdict vindicates our client, but we were hoping the jury would find she worked the hours that she did.”
Simmons, the defendants’ lawyer, guessed that Wondimante sought to position herself as a “human trafficking” victim in order to get on the fast track for U.S. residency. Wondimante lived as a family member with the Assefa sisters and her work around the house constituted chores, he said.
“It’s sad, because the attorneys who worked on her behalf and the group that was supporting her are good, well-meaning, talented folks, and I think they got duped on this,” Simmons said.
Wondimante was represented by CASA of Maryland Inc. along with Salzman and other lawyers from Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom.
Ruling
Fikre Wondimante v. Fana Assefa et al.
Court: U.S. District Court in Greenbelt
Case Number: Civil No. JKS 04-3718
Proceedings: Jury trial
Judge:Jillyn K. Schulze
Outcome: Plaintiff’s verdict
Dates: Incident: June 2000 – June 2004; Suit filed: August 2004; Disposition: June 5, 2007
Plaintiff’s Attorneys: Andrew Sandler, Donald Salzman and Bradley Klein of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom in Washington, D.C.; Elizabeth Keys of CASA of Maryland Inc.
Defense Attorney: Donald C. Simmons of Washington, D.C.
Damages sought: $700,000
Award: $61,000
Incident location: Potomac, Md.
Ethiopian Review sources reported that on Sunday afternoon some of the Kinijit prisoners in Qaliti sent their personal items home as they await their release. According to ER sources, the release of the prisoners may occur any time between tomorrow, Monday, and two weeks. Reportedly, Woyanne officials told the mediators that they will not announce the date of the release. There is also a speculation among some informed sources that Woyanne may not release all the prisoners until after they are sentenced by the court. . . – more details later
The Holy Synod of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church (EOTC) announced that it will join Ethiopian civic and political groups in Washington DC on June 25 and 26 to march for the release of Ethiopia’s jailed leaders.
It is announced that members of the Holy Synod, the highest authoritative body of the Ethiopian Ortodox Church, will lead Ethiopian protesters in front of the White House next Monday starting at 9 AM to appeal to the Bush Administration to join its European counterparts in demanding the immediate and unconditional release of the political prisoners in Ethiopia.
On Tuesday, June 26, the Church leaders and the protesters will blockade the Ethiopian embassy starting at 9 AM and demand the Meles dictatorship release the legitimate representatives of Ethiopia from jail.
Kinijit, UEDF, Tegbar and other organizations will join the Ethiopian Orthodox Church leaders in the two-day marches and protests.
Woyanne propagandists are busy trying to characterize the negotiation between the Tigrean People Liberation Front (Woyanne) and the prisoners as a plea bargain and are also trying to insinuate that the prisoners in Qaliti are asking for mercy. It also said that the whole thing has been initiated from the movement in North America while the reality is that the initiative is that of the shimagiles and others in Addis Ababa including the regime and the US embassy. Woyanne cadres true to the nature of their masters are busy attempting to confuse the public by also saying that there is division among the prisoners. There is no such thing inside Kaliti. None.
Here is the accurate information. The Meles Government is feeling the pressure from the international community, particularly soon after the guilty verdict. In fact, the guilty verdict which was written in the palace by Meles was meant to put additional pressure on the prisoners to submit to Meles’s demand that they absolve him from the crimes he committed. He is badly in need of face saving. There were repeated attempts made by the regime to make the prisoners self incriminate in exchange for the release which they have rejected. Meles and his TPLF clique are worried about the consequence of the blood of innocent people in their hands. They also know that their court case is totally without a single merit and that it is in shambles. So they want the prisoners to take partial blame for the post election crisis and absolve them.
No one has yet signed the draft sent by Meles through the shimagiles. Our leaders are carefully weighing the pros and cons and the language of the agreement. There is no plea bargain as the shameless Aiga (TPLF) guys try to insinuate. Any question of plea bargain has been tried since last year and the prisoners of conscience have rejected it.
You may also need to know that Meles is not in Addis Ababa the last few days. Unconfirmed reports say that he is being treated in an Israeli Hospital for some illness. God save him. We will know more about this over the next hours. We are told Bereket is the medium for now.
The prisoners are allowed to get together to discuss the issue freely. They are discussing it intensively as in the culture they started before and after the election. Everybody’s idea is respected in Kinijit and everybody is listened to. There are some who look at it from points of principle, there are others look at it from points of views of tactic. But they are all firm in their stand. Inside Qaliti there is only a robust discussion and comradely love and respect for one another. Not an iota of the kind of division the Aiga bullies are trying to make. We are told the prisoners are jovial and feeling no pressure at all. They are negotiating intelligently. As you can imagine these are the super brains together. They know what they are doing and their dedication and determination has never been stronger. Everyone should, of course understand that our leaders are negotiating under duress. Obviously Meles has more cards over his victims but also knows the buttered side of his bread. The American embassy is heavily involved, but its pressure on Meles is not what we expect it to be. The European Union is coming down on him heavily. The NYT story has shaken their ground. Even the Americans are a little more tired of Meles. Deep in their hearts they know the accusation against Kinijit’s leaders is a pack of lie.
Our leaders are with all their integrity and determination. They will decide on their best bet. May be they may give in on some of their positions to help Meles face save. But they have agreed to be unanimous in their decision. There is no bickering among them only intelligent deliberation. Be careful about attempts by Woyane agents to saw confusion and division among us. They are busy trying to create the illusion of two camps inside Kinijit. That is their wish. There is no such thing inside Qaliti.
Let’s also prey for our country and the prisoners. Let’s pray for the woyanes too for God help free their mind from the hatred and vengefulness that obsessed their mind.
University of Nottingham scientists have been instrumental in helping to establish a pioneering branch of chemistry in Ethiopia.
They have helped to introduce Green Chemistry, an emerging field of sustainable science that will help African nations to meet the challenges of the 21st century.
Green Chemistry — a field in which The University of Nottingham is a world leader — focuses on greener ways of creating chemicals, and is now regarded as one of the major routes to more environmentally-friendly production of the chemicals that underpin modern society.
The work of Nottingham academics with their colleagues in Ethiopia, detailed in the online version of the journal Science, began with a chance meeting four years ago. Today it is sufficiently developed to enable African scientists to participate more fully in the search for new chemicals, processes and techniques that could impact on millions of people.
Much current research is focused on the search for renewable feedstocks and more environmentally acceptable solvents as replacements for petroleum-based products. This makes Green Chemistry particularly relevant to the needs of African countries such as Ethiopia, faced with an increasing demand for chemicals, little or no indigenous oil, and rapidly expanding populations.
The collaboration started with a chance meeting between Dr Nigist Asfaw and Professor Martyn Poliakoff, who heads research into Green Chemistry at The University of Nottingham, while the latter was on holiday in Ethiopia.
Over the next four years, links were gradually developed and strengthened through staff visits, conferences, workshops and collaborative research. Today, the Ethiopian scientists have established an international presence and are on the brink of their first conference for chemists from across the whole of Africa.
Ethiopian PhD student Haregewine Tadesse is currently in the second year of her PhD in Dr Peter Licence’s research group at The University of Nottingham. Haregewine has made a very strong start, having already authored a high-profile scientific paper for publication and addressed a meeting of the RSC Archives for Africa at the Houses of Parliament. A second Ethiopian postgraduate, Mr Bitu Biru, is due to join in September to start a PhD in the subject.
Professor Poliakoff and Dr Licence have co-authored a paper in Science Express with Dr Asfaw and Dr Temechegn Engida, of Addis Ababa University.
They write in Science Express: “Green Chemistry provides a unique opportunity for African chemists because it combines the search for new science with the development of sustainable chemical technologies appropriate to the needs of the community.
“Therefore, the resources of Africa — intense sunlight, unique plant species and enthusiastic young people — present its chemists with scientific opportunities, less readily available in many other countries.
“With modest funding and overseas support, a determined group of Ethiopian scientists has established an international presence within only four years. It is a model which perhaps can be replicated elsewhere.”
Green chemistry is now well established at Addis Ababa University and the collaboration has led to a number of other key developments, notably:
– The establishment of Addis Ababa University as an Overseas Chapter of the American Chemical Society, Green Chemistry Institute.
– The formation of the Federation of African Societies of Chemistry, bringing together scientists from across Africa.
– 1st Annual FASC conference to be held in Addis Ababa in September 2007 — with Green Chemistry as its theme.
– Nottingham PhD student Haregewine Tadesse and Nottingham academic Dr Robert Mokaya, a Kenyan, spoke at the launch of the Royal Society of Chemistry’s Archive for Africa. The launch of the Archive means that African scientists will have free access to the latest research published in key scientific journals.
– Research and staff links between Nottingham and Addis Ababa University, including appointment of Dr Peter Licence as visiting professor, making extended visits to Addis Ababa to participate in teaching at both undergraduate and postgraduate level.
Professor Poliakoff and his colleagues wrote in Science Express: “Our collaboration has been intellectually rewarding for all of those involved and it has been particularly helpful in developing the careers of the younger participants. However, this was only possible because our Ethiopian colleagues had already built a strong chemistry department at their university.
“Having overseas scientists to champion their work on the international scene has clearly been valuable to the chemists in Ethiopia.
“We strongly urge other scientists to consider championing an African country so that their needs can be more loudly articulated in the international arena and their scientists empowered to meet the tremendous challenges of the future.”
Emma Thorne | Quelle: alphagalileo
Weitere Informationen: www.nottingham.ac.uk
