Thus spoke Eskinder, the drum major for Ethiopian democracy

July 14, 2013

by Alemayehu G. Mariam

Still drumming for democracy

Eskinder Nega is still drumming for democracy in Ethiopia. From inside the belly of the infamous Meles Zenawi Prison in Kality, just outside the capital Addis Ababa. Until recently, Eskinder was in solitary confinement. He was allowed to see only his wife and son and a couple of other relatives.

Eskinder is condemned to 18 years in prison.  His unspeakable crimes include speaking truth to power, writing the naked truth about the late dictator Meles Zenawi, standing defiant against the abuse of power and speaking his mind fearlessly as a free human being.

ሰበር ዜና፣ ከ42 በላይ የአንድነት ፓርቲ አባላት በአዲስ አበባ ታሰሩ

July 15, 2013

ዛሬ አዲስ አበባ ውስጥ በፖሊስ የታሰሩት የአንድነት አባላት ከ42 በላይ ደርሰዋል ከታሳሪዎቹ ውስጥ ሁለት ሴቶች ይገኙበታል

ዛሬ ሐምሌ 8 ቀን 2005 ዓ.ም መንግስት የአንድነት ፓርቲ የአዲስ አበባ ዞን የወረዳ አመራሮችንና አባላትን በዘመቻ ማሰር ጀምሯል፡፡ እስከአሁኗ ሰዓትም 42 የሚሆኑ የአንድነት ለዴሞክራሲና ለፍትህ ፓርቲ አባላት በፖሊሲ ቁጥጥር ስር ይገኛሉ፡፡ የፍኖተ ነፃነት ጋዜጠኞች ተዘዋውረው እንደዘገቡት 42 የሚሆኑ የአንድነት ፓርቲ አባላት በፖሊስ እንዲታሰሩ ተደርጓል፡፡ የአንድነት ፓርቲ በአዲስ አበባ እያሰራጨ ያለውን ህጋዊ በራሪ ወረቀት ለህዝብ በማደላቸው የተያዙት አባላት ከአዲስ ከተማ 15፣ ከጉለሌ7 ፣ ከየካ 9 እንዲሁም ከንፋስ ስልክ ላፍቶ ናቸው፡፡

የሚሊዮኖች ድምፅ ለነፃነት በሚል መሪ ቃል እየተካሄደ ባለው ህዝባዊ ንቅናቄ የተደናገጠ የሚመስለው ኢህአዴግ በየአካባቢው የአንድነት አባላትን ምክንያት እየፈለገ ማገትና ማሰሩን ገፍቶበታል፡፡

ዛሬ ከታሰሩት 42 የአንድነት ፓርቲ አባላት መካከልባለፈው ሳምንት ቄራ አካባቢ ተመሳሳይ ወረቀት ሲበትኑ በህገወጥ መንገድ በፖሊስ ታስረው የነበሩት ስንታየሁ ቸኮልና ዳንኤል ፈይሳ ዛሬም በድጋሚ ህገወጥ እስር እንተፈፀመባቸው ለማወቅ ተችሏል፡፡

Ethiopian Police Detain Activists Calling for Terror Law Repeal

July 16, 2013

by William Davison

(Bloomberg) Ethiopian police detained 40 opposition supporters distributing leaflets calling for the repeal of an anti-terrorism law they say has been used to stifle dissent, the Unity for Democracy and Justice party said.

The arrests in four districts of the capital, Addis Ababa, occurred yesterday as UDJ members distributed pamphlets asking people to sign a petition that also demands the release of jailed opposition members, religious leaders and journalists, the party said in an e-mailed statement.

“It is harassment,” UDJ Chairman Negasso Gidada said in a phone interview today from the capital. “There is no law that says you need permission to distribute leaflets.”

Sara Al Amoudi accused of fraud

A woman accused of swindling a couple out of property worth £14 million by posing as a Saudi princess was actually a prostitute, a court heard.

Sara Al Amoudi reportedly boasted of ‘limitless wealth’, and convinced HSBC to lend her £4million, while a statement from Barclays suggested she had £165million in her account.

But property developers Amanda Clutterbuck, 56, and Ian Paton, 45, say the ‘princess’ actually worked as a prostitute with her two sisters in a £750,000 flat yards from Harrods.

A judge also urged Miss Al Amoudi to remove her burka in court for the complex civil claim from Miss Clutterbuck and Mr Paton for the value of six luxurious London properties they signed over to her.

Miss Al Amoudi, who counts peers among her friends and is said to have dated actor Colin Farrell, earned the nickname ‘the vamp in the veil’ following a previous court case in which ex-boyfriend Patrick Ribbsaeter, a Swedish model, was cleared of assaulting her chauffeur.

Proving them wrong – the Ethiopian way

July 13, 2013

by Yilma Bekele

They say all kinds of bad stuff about us. It is said so many times and so often sometimes some of us start to believe the lie. That is always the problem with being lied to. I am sure by now Woyanes are drunk with their own silly propaganda. The situation with us is that they used to own the means of communication and we were their potted plants waiting to be told, lectured and abused to no end.

I have so many instances of this situation I just don’t know where to start. I believe 2005 is day one in recent Ethiopian history. From 1992 to 2005 were the golden years of Woyane where they could do nothing wrong. They could have declared black is white and no one would have challenged them. They held three elections before 2005 and trounced the so called opposition like a beach ball. The loyal opposition led by such luminaries as Dr. Beyene Petros were amenable in a fantastic manner and submitted without much fanfare.

Ethiopian opposition holds rare protests

ADDIS ABABA (AFP) –  Ethiopian opposition activists on Sunday demanded the release of journalists and political prisoners jailed under anti-terror legislation in demonstrations in two major towns.

In rare public outpours of anger, people marched peacefully in the towns of Gondar and Dessie, chanting "freedom" and carrying pictures of jailed politicians and journalists.

Government officials said there were around 1,500 protesters in total in both towns, while the activists themselves claimed the number to be as high as 20,000.

"The protests were peaceful and successful," said Senegas Gidada, protest organiser and chairman of the Unity for Democracy and Justice Party (UDJ) party.

"We are unhappy about the lack of human rights and democratic freedom in Ethiopia," he added.

The demonstrations follow a rally last month in the capital Addis Ababa when several thousand activists demanded the government adhere to basic human rights.

The recent rallies are the largest since post-election violence in 2005 resulted in 200 people being killed and 30,000 arrested.

"The cost of living is too high. We have no rights. They took away my family's property and land and gave us no compensation," said one young unemployed protester, who asked not be named, but who was speaking by telephone from Gondar.

"The dogs on the street have more freedom than we do. We are here to demand freedom and we will continue to protest until the government makes fundamental changes."

But the government dismissed the protesters' calls.

"The protesters are demanding the release of prisoners who have been convicted of terrorism, these are not pro-democracy protests," government spokesman Shemeles Kemal told AFP.