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    January 09, 2012

Ethiopian Politicians on Trial for Terrorism

   Peter Heinlein | Addis Ababa
   Parents of Swedish journalist and accused terrorist Johan Persson with
   Sweden's ambassador to Ethiopia, right, outside federal court, Addis
   Ababa, Dec. 21, 2011.
   Photo: Reuters
   Parents of Swedish journalist and accused terrorist Johan Persson with
   Sweden's ambassador to Ethiopia, right, outside federal court, Addis
   Ababa, Dec. 21, 2011.

   Two politicians who had been rising stars in Ethiopia's ethnic Oromo
   opposition movement have pleaded 'not guilty' to terrorism charges in
   Addis Ababa on Monday.
   Bekele Gerba and Olbana Lelisa appeared in federal court to hear
   charges accusing them of conspiring to overthrow Ethiopia's government
   by force. They also stand accused of being recruiters for the Oromo
   Liberation Front, an outlawed separatist group.
   Bekele and Olbana had been considered among the brightest of the young
   generation of politicians being groomed to take over following the 2010
   electoral disaster, when the opposition was virtually shut out of
   parliament. Bekele had been named deputy chairman and external
   relations chief for the Oromo Federal Democratic Movement (OFDM), and
   Olbana held a similar post in the Oromo People's Congress.
   Bekele, an English instructor at Addis Ababa University, was also on
   the executive board of the main opposition bloc Medrek.
   The men were arrested last August after meeting with a visiting
   delegation from the Amnesty International rights group, which was later
   expelled from the country.
   Along with seven co-defendants, Bekele and Olbana had also assisted a
   BBC news crew that been investigating allegations that Ethiopia used
   billions of dollars in development aid as a tool for political
   repression. The government strongly denied the report, calling it
   irresponsible.
   In court Monday, Bekele tried to argue that he had been working for
   peaceful change on behalf of what he called "downtrodden Oromos," who
   comprise Ethiopia's largest ethnic group. Chief Judge Endeshaw Adane
   cut him short, saying the hearing was only for entering a plea.
   Dr. Mogga Frissa, who heads both OFDM and the Medrek opposition bloc,
   says the court's handling of the case and the long delay in bringing
   defendants to trial constitutes unfair treatment of Oromos.
   "(The) Oromo community is disappointed with this," he says. "They are
   oppressed, they have no right of talking, they have no right of
   expressing themselves. Every Oromo. They have kept them for almost
   [four] months and only today they have asked them if they are guilty or
   not, so this shows the Oromos are oppressed."
   The trial is scheduled to continue Tuesday at the same high-court
   complex where a verdict is due in the case of two journalists also
   charged with terrorism. Reeyot Alemu, a columnist with the weekly paper
   Fitih [Justice], and Woubshet Taye, deputy editor of the now defunct
   Awramba Times, are charged with plotting to sabotage telephone and
   electricity lines.
   In a third terrorism trial slated to resume later in this week,
   opposition politician Andualem Aragie and internet blogger and
   political analyst Eskinder Nega are among 30 defendants charged with
   conspiring to overthrow Prime Minister Meles Zenawi's government by
   violent means. While Eskider and Andualem will be in the courtroom,
   most of the defendants are in exile and being tried in absentia.
   All those charged in the three cases have been outspoken critics of
   Meles and his ruling Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front,
   which has been in power for more than 20 years. Human rights and press
   freedom groups have accused the EPRDF of using the terrorism law to
   silence dissent. The government staunchly denies the charges.
   Two Swedish journalists were convicted on terrorism-related charges in
   the same court last month and sentenced to 11 years in prison. The pair
   had been arrested in the company of an outlawed rebel group in
   Ethiopia's restive Ogaden region.