Ethiopians Protest Outside AU Summit in South Africa

Thursday, May 24th, 2012

EYE WITNESS NEWS

Ethiopian man allegedly assaulted by government forces in his country. Picture: Rahima Essop/EWN

JOHANNESBURG – Ethiopians living in South Africa voiced their opposition to Prime Minister Meles Zenawi’s “dictatorship” on Wednesday afternoon.
They took to the streets of Sandton to hand over a memorandum of demands to African Union (AU) members.
Officials are holding a summit at the Sandton Convention Centre in northern Johannesburg.
Zenawi’s government is accused of suppressing free speech and opposing political views.
His regime is also accused of arbitrarily detaining thousands of people.
Demonstrators said they want to see change in east African country.
One demonstrator said Ethiopians are continuously brutalised by the leadership of the Tigrayan People’s Liberation Front party.
Another demonstrator said many Ethiopians were seeking asylum in South Africa, because of the political unrest in that country.
Meanwhile ESAT just reported, “Meles Zenawi’s programmed address in South Africa forced to be cancelled”.