Berhanu Nega testifies at EU parliamentary hearing

Mayor-Elect of Addis Ababa and leader of the newly formed Ginbot 7 Movement, Dr Berhanu Nega, testified yesterday at the European Union parliamentary hearing on the current political crisis in Ethiopia.

The hearing in Brussels, Belgium, was organized by Member of European Parliament Ana Gomez, and attended by members of EU’s Human Rights and Development committees.

Several Ethiopians and representatives of the International Crisis Group (ICG) have also attended the hearing.

Meles Zenawi’s regime was represented by the lobby firm DLA Piper, not by the ambassador to EU Berhanu Gebrekristos.

“I am from a lobby firm DLA Piper. I have a question to you and Ms Ana Gomes. Why don’t you fight the government in Ethiopia, like Professor Mesfin does, than from Diaspora?” the lobbyist asked.

“We have never seen you in any of our sessions before,” the U.K. Labor Party spokesperson and Co-President of the African, Caribbean and Pacific/EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly, Glenys Kinnock, said to the DLA Piper lobbyist.

Glenys pointed out the recent Human Rights Watch report that criticizes the EU executives for being silent on the crimes against humanity committed by Meles Zenawi’s regime in Ethiopia.

“In Portugal, we also had the same brutal dictator as that of Meles Zenawi,” Ana Gomes responded to the lobbyist. “We fought it both from inside and out side.”

As a chief European election observer mission, Ms. Anna had witnessed that Kinijit leaders won the 2005 elections. “Berhanu would have been in power. But the regime put him in jail.” Ana said.

“You are doing everything you can to kill HR 2003. You make money by defending a corrupt and criminal regime at the expense of millions of the Ethiopian poor,” Dr. Berhanu told the lobbyist for DLA that is being paid $50,000 per month by Meles.

Read Dr Berhanu’s full statement: (click here)

Source: EMF