Ethiopia’s superstar athlete Tirunesh Dibaba and teammates Meseret Defar, Gelete Burka, Tejitu Daba and Shitaye Eshete have advanced to Women’s 5,000 meters final.
Previously, Ethiopian Olympic Committee did not schedule Tirunesh to run in the 5,000-meter, but after her powerful performance in the 10,000-meter on Saturday, the committee relented and allowed her to run.
The Ethiopian Olympic Committee has been at odds with many of the athletes because of its arbitrary decisions that doesn’t take the interest and wishes of the athletes into consideration. Fortunately, the committee relented on Tirunesh’s case. “She will run, 100 percent,” said the Olympic Committee’s technical director Dube Jilo on Sunday.
It’s been 47 days since Ethiopia’s dictator Meles Zenawi has disappeared.
Here are the latest updates:
1. The ruling junta still claims Meles is alive and getting rest at an undisclosed location.
2. The TPLF junta’s leadership is holding a marathon meeting to decide who should replace Meles.
3. The majority of the TPLF leadership is said to be leaning toward making Hailemariam Dessalegn acting PM until the next fake “election”.
4. They are preparing to announce that Meles Zenawi has resigned because of bad health.
5. The regime’s hard currency reserve is depleting fast.
A group of concerned Ethiopians in the Washington DC area have created an organization named FREE MEDIA FOR ETHIOPIA and one of their first actions is to hold a hunger strike. The following is their press release.
Hunger strike for free press in Ethiopia: Washington D.C. August 17-19, 2012 — Starting from Friday 12:00 AM to Monday 12:00 AM
Free Media for Ethiopia will be giving up everything for something we care about. We will be living in the same conditions as the people we’re fighting for. Free Media for Ethiopia is willingly abstaining from the necessities of life for 72 hours. A hunger strike will be organized to take place at Lafayette Square for the right to free speech and free press for a country that so desperately needs it. This demonstration is being held to fight the government that blatantly disregards these basic human rights.
We are used to living in a world where access to information is almost instant, but Ethiopians live in a world where information is literally fabricated and fed to the people as truth. Many social media outlets that keep Ethiopian people up to date with global current events are being blocked by the government. They have come up with an incredibly effective way to oppress the people by keeping them in the dark. Journalists that try to uncover the truth and report it to the people are sent to jail because those truths are usually harmful to the image of politicians. These tyrants have resorted to increasingly excessive violent behavior to cling onto their power and they must be stopped. This government claims itself to be a federal democratic republic, but what kind of democracy imprisons people purely on the basis of being honest?
The ultimate vision of Free Media for Ethiopia is to see free flow of information and freedom of expression which is free from influence of interest groups and or political entities. The right to speak freely is something most of us take for granted, but it is a vital part of a flourishing society. Criminalizing it forces individuals to bottle up their opinions and the people that assume power go unchecked and aren’t held accountable for their actions. At this very moment free media is asking for the release of the many journalists that are suffering for speaking their minds and pointing out injustices notably Eskinder Nega and many more. We are fighting for the voices that cannot be heard.
This is a public event and anyone is welcome to participate.
More info: http://www.facebook.com/Free.Media.for.Ethiopia
VOA’s Addisu Abebe was unfair, abusive, disrespectful, and hostile toward the ENTC leaders in this interview that was broadcast Saturday, Aug. 4. Throughout the interview, he didn’t conduct himself as a professional journalist by any standard. I hope he apologizes to the ENTC leadership and give them another interview. It is disheartening to hear VOA echo the Woyanne junta’s campaign that is being waged against the ENTC. Listen below. – Elias Kifle
Ethiopia’s superstar athlete Tirunesh Dibaba and teammates Meseret Defar, Gelete Burka, Tejitu Daba and Shitaye Eshete have advanced to Women’s 5,000 meters final.