Twenty-five-thousand-truck loads of coffee disappeared from the government warehouse this year and Meles Zenawi’s explanation was: “let’s forget about it, but don’t do it again.” Of course he knows, and we all know, who stole the coffee. It’s none other than his own wife, making the act the most {www:brazen} theft of public property this year. Watch Meles Zenawi’s explanation below:
Nonviolent movements are faced every day with stresses in the areas of leadership, fear-management, and avoiding {www:contamination}, so they need to be prepared. They also need to be tactically innovative and choose issues and actions that put the tyrant in dilemmas. … [read more]
(CNN) — Two Swedish journalists who were found guilty in Ethiopia of supporting terrorism were sentenced to 11 years in jail Tuesday, the Swedish Foreign Ministry said.
“Our belief was that the court would think they were journalists and they would be released. This is what the prime minister has said before,” ministry spokesman Anders Jörle said. “It is not fair that they are sentenced since they are journalists on a journalistic mission.”
“They are innocent and have been convicted because of their journalistic work,” said Tomas Olsson, the journalists’ Swedish attorney. “We are very disappointed.”
A court convicted Johan Persson and Martin Schibbye last week.
Ethiopian Woaynne troops captured Persson and Schibbye in July during an exchange of gunfire with a rebel group in the Ogaden, a prohibited region along the nation’s border with Somalia, according to state media.
Ethiopian Woyanne officials accused the journalists of being accomplices to terrorism after the government declared the Ogaden National Liberation Front a terrorist group in June.
Olsson said the 11-year sentence was the lowest possible one for the crimes they were convicted of.
“The prosecutor sought 18 years imprisonment, so if you look at it that way, it is a positive thing that they got the lowest possible sentence,” Olsson said. “But since they are innocent, they are very disappointed.”
Schibbye and Persson have until January 10 to decide if they want to appeal — a process that could take up to two years — or if they want to seek a pardon.
However, Olsson said, if they want to apply for a pardon the two have to admit the crimes, “and since they are not guilty then this is not something they’d want to do.”
Fredric Alm at the Sweden-based photojournalism agency Kontinent, for which the two men work, said they “have a very hard decision ahead of them” in considering whether to appeal or ask for a pardon, but that an 11-year sentence in an Ethiopian prison “could effectively be a death sentence for them.”
Alm added: “The purpose of this verdict is to scare away all journalists from reporting in the Ogaden. But as journalists we have to continue reporting from closed areas. It’s a very sad day for press freedom. It’s a very sad day but it didn’t come as a surprise for us. It’s still a political verdict; it’s not a real trial. It is the (Ethiopian) prime minister who has decided.”
Persson and Schibbye were convicted on two counts: entering the country illegally and providing assistance to a terrorist organization, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ).
Press freedom groups say the two were embedded with the rebels while working on a story about the region.
Journalists and aid workers are prohibited from entering the Ogaden, where human rights organizations say human rights abuses against ethnic Somalis by rebels and Ethiopian troops are rampant.
“The Ethiopian Woyanne army’s answer to the rebels has been to viciously attack civilians in the Ogaden,” said Georgette Ganon of Human Rights Watch. “These widespread and systematic atrocities amount to crimes against humanity.”
Reporters Without Borders criticized the court’s decision.
“What are the Ethiopian authorities hoping to achieve?” the international secretariat of the group asked. “To discourage anyone from visiting the Ogaden, as these two journalists did? To send a warning signal to the national and international media about the danger of receiving a long jail sentence on a terrorism charge if they attempt any potentially embarrassing investigative reporting?”
“Our starting point is and remains that they have been in the country on a journalistic mission,” Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt said in a statement last week. “They should be freed as soon as possible and be able to rejoin their families in Sweden.”
But presiding judge Shemsu Sirgaga said the two “have not been able to prove that they did not support terrorism.”
“They have shown that they are esteemed journalists, but we cannot conclude that someone with a good reputation does not engage in criminal acts,” Sirgaga said.
Both journalists pleaded guilty to entering the country illegally through Somalia without accreditation, according to the CPJ, which says Ethiopian officials deny media access without government minders.
“We have documented violations of due process and the politicization of their trial,” the CPJ said, complaining that the government pronounced the two guilty even before the trial started.
Amnesty International called for their release ahead of Tuesday’s sentencing.
“There is nothing to suggest that the two men entered Ethiopia with any intention other than conducting their legitimate work as journalists. The government chooses to interpret meeting with a terrorist organization as support of that group and therefore a terrorist act,” said Claire Beston with the human rights group.
In a statement issued in September, Kontinent said that its journalists do not take sides or participate in any conflict and report under international rights regarding freedom of the press, which it believes should be upheld by any government.
The trial against the journalists turned into a fight for press freedom in Ethiopia, according to international journalists’ organizations. In a letter sent to the United Nations, Reporters without Borders accused Ethiopia of using its anti-terrorism law to lessen press freedom and penalize free speech.
“In the name of the fight against terrorism, the government muzzles dissident and critical voices, thus abusing human rights and fundamental freedoms,” wrote the secretary general of Reporters without Borders, Jean-Francois Julliard
A court in Nkhata Bay, Malawi, has found over 90 Ethiopians guilty of illegal entry into the country four days after they hang out off shore Lake Malawi to elude police security.
The immigrants have since been fined K4,000 each or if they fail to pay the amount, go to jail for two months each.
Prison authorities in Nkhatabay have since raised fears of congestion at the district prison which has a capacity of 280 if the 94 Ethiopian illegal immigrants are eventually jailed.
Eight of the Ethiopians died of starvation on Lake Malawi where they camped for four days as they tried to elude security to illegally get ashore.
Police say the Ethiopian illegal immigrants, close to 100, were in a boat belonging to a Tanzanian national.
Nkhatabay police spokesperson Sergeant Martin Bwanali says 94 of the Ethiopians have been arrested for illegal entry into Malawi.
“They were forced to stay on the Lake for four days after being tipped by their Malawian agents that police were waiting for them on the shores,” said Sergeant Bwanali.
Sergeant Bwanali said police had prior information on the questionable visit by the aliens.
“Police officers were strategically deployed on the shores of the lake around the area to monitor what was happening,” he said. The Ethiopians were, however, tipped by their Malawian agents that police were monitoring them.
“The strangers then decided to remain on the lake for four days. In the process, eight of them died of starvation and were disposed off right in the lake,” said Sergeant Bwanali.
The tragedy, police suspect, forced the group to show up on the shore where they met local fishermen who sold them off.
The 94 Ethiopians are aged between 20 and 40.
The influx of illegal immigrants has often worried local authorities as they over-stretch government resources and causes security hazard as their backgrounds are not known.
It is generally believed that Ethiopians, Somalis and people from DRC find Malawi a soft security spot in their quest to travel to South Africa where they long to find a better life.
There is a rise in cases of illegal immigrants into Malawi.
Officials from the Immigration Department say close to 3,000 cases were recorded in 2011.
The arrests are being attributed to alertness of officials and routine security operations.
The increasing cases of illegal immigrants are blamed on porous borders Malawi has.
Ethiopians, Somalis, Burundians, Rwandese, Indians, Pakistanis and now Chinese nationals make up the majority of illegal immigrants found in Malawi.
Source: ZodiakMalawi
Woyanne goons are intensifying intimidation and harassment against the editor and staff of Feteh, the only independent newspaper remaining in Ethiopia. Last night Feteh editor Temesgen Desalegn’s residence was surrounded by Woyanne police. Another editor, Hailemeskel Beshewamyele, was also harassed and his phone’s {www:SIM card} was confiscated by Woyanne thugs. The purpose of such intensified harassment is to shut down the newspaper. The following update is posted on Feteh’s website:
በትላንትናው እለት በ11/04/04ዓ.ም ለፍትህ ጋዜጣ አምደኛ ርዮት አለሙ መከላከያ ምስክር ሆኖ በመቅረብ የመሰከረላት የፍትህ አዘጋጅ ሀይለመስቅል በሸዋምየለ ከምሽቱ 12፡30 ላይ ቢሮ በር ላይ የደህንነት ሰራተኛ ነን ያሉ 3 ግለሰቦች ሲም ካርዱን ከነጠቁ በኋላ ከባድ ማስፈራራያ አድርሰውብታል፡፡
በዚሁ እለት ከምሽቱ 2 ሰአት ላይ የፍትህ ዋና አዘጋጅ ተመስገን ደሳለኝ እና ሀይለመስቀል በሸዋምየለ ከቢሮ ወጥተው ሲሄዱ በርከት ያሉ የደህንነት አባላቶች ሲከታተሏቸው ከቆዩ በኋላ ሁለቱም ጋዜጠኞች ወደ ተመስገን መኖሪያ ቤት ሲሄዱ የሚከታተሏቸው ሰዎችም አብረው በመሄድ አካባቢውን ከበው ያደሩ ሲሆን በማግስቱም /ዛሬ 12/04/04/ መከታተሉ የቀጠለ እንደሆነ ታወቋል፡፡ አሁን እየተደረገ ያለው ማስፈራሪያና ክትትል ከመጠን ያለፈ ከመሆኑም በላይ በስራቸው ላይ ጫና እያሳደረባቸው መሆኑን ለፍትህ ድህረ ገፅ ገልጸዋል፡፡
By Karen Msiska
MALAWI, SOUTHERN AFRICA — Twelve Ethiopians believed to have been illegally crossing into the country via Lake Malawi from Tanzania were dumped in the lake after dying of hunger, police have said quoting the other immigrants.
About 106 Ethiopians set off for Malawi on boats in what is a sign of desperation to get out of Ethiopia and arrive in Malawi but only 94 were intercepted by police at Sanga in Nkhata Bay Monday night.
“The dead bodies were dumped in the lake randomly as they did not die at the same time,” said Nkhata Bay police spokesperson Martin Bwanali in an interview on Tuesday.
He said the 94 Ethiopians have been charged with illegal entry into the country contrary to Section 21(36) of the Immigration Act, and that figure takes the number of illegal entrants arrested around the area to 183 over the past week.
He said police have also arrested a Malawian identified as 36-year-old William Banda from Chanthomba Village in TA Mankhambira’s area on suspicion that he has been coordinating movement of the illegal entrants by providing them with information on security presence on docking areas.
“Our investigations indicate that the boat the group was travelling on was dumped on the lake after those operating them got information that police officers were waiting for them in the area,” added Bwanali.
“We arrested Banda and told him to keep telling the group to dock but they responded by saying that they had information that he had been arrested. The transporters dumped them and are believed to have returned to Tanzania.”
He said the group was met by some fishermen who noticed that the group could not converse in English or any local language and pulled their boat to land.
Banda has been charged with aiding and abetting human trafficking.
Police say most the Ethiopians immigrants are now taking advantage of Tukombo’s closeness to the hills and the lake which allows them to quickly get into the bushy hills after docking. Police arrested 89 of them in the area last week.
Source: The Daily Times