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p to the ogeden just heard that the government is organizing a trip for foreign correspondents to the ogeden region and thus begins their latest disinformation campaign i wonder who will have the courage to ask what happened to the men since tortured and murdered by government forces interviewed for the times article i also wonder if they will invite ny times stringer will connors along oh wait he was essentially expelled last month for helping to expose the atrocities occuring there only beneign journalists allowed i suppose posted by mengedegna at 11 25 am 4 comments thursday august 9 oppression here there and everywhere i am extremely concerned about what is happening in the ogeden region even from within the country it is difficult to obtain concrete information which generally means things are far worse than we know however it is clear the ethiopian government is once again demonstrating their appalling preference for violence destruction of property and aid restriction as a means of applying political pressure the truly terrifying thing is while today the focus may be on the ogeden such reports could just as easily apply to most other regions in the country when i was last in awasa for example i shown file after file of those in the snnp region who had suffered similar human rights abuses over the past two years murders mostly students shot in the head or from behind horrific pictures of torture victims houses and property ransacked destroyed and burned and a list of ngos that had been shut down and their aid channels blocked effectively causing a concentrated federally inflicted and therefore unreported famine most of these victims brave enough to come forward and report these crimes to human rights organizations were unable to read or write and confirmed their statements only with a thumbprint yet they are speaking out at great personal risk nonetheless they are among millions of nameless victims who continue to suffer at the hands of the eprdf regime and are the ones to whom we must listen there are hundreds of thousands of us both here and abroad who are aware and claim to care about this all encompassing oppression and so only a simple question remains what are we going to do about it in my opinion now is hardly the time for bitter party politics and internal corruption and division far too much is at stake instead now is the time to focus on what unites us all the desire to see a free and prosperous ethiopia and act immediately and accordingly and so i ask again what are we going to do about it posted by mengedegna at 12 58 pm 3 comments monday august 6 coming soon hello i am still around and will be back blogging again next week i agree with ethio zagol now is the time for genuine dialogue for solutions and unity i hope that this site can also be a forum for such discussion posted by mengedegna at 1 15 pm 2 comments friday july 20 countdown i never thought i d say this but what a wonderful time to be in ethiopia the transformation in the spirit of the people over the past few days is incredible everyone is talking about their coming release and newpapers are printing their photos again i wish i could scan and attach tuesday s copy of abbi weekly featuring dr berhanu flashing the double v sign and the faces of the other leaders on a background of the national colors but of course these sold out by noon in the city what a joy to overhear political discussions in the streets of addis posted by mengedegna at 4 55 am 15 comments wednesday july 18 the things they can t suppress everyone in addis is talking about yesterday s article in the ethiopian herald in which a letter admitting guilt for the post election violence and supposedly signed by the prisoners was printed i was initially worried that people would believe these lies but was instead pleasantly suprised on the streets and in taxis and cafes people are emphatically denying that the leaders would ever admit to crimes not committed it seems these latest attempts to defame the characters of those in prison has only served to boost public support and admiration opps also they may be able to silence us over here but the international bloggers are busy the huffington post mydd and daily kos have all posted a story by blogger robert naiman encouraging people to take action here posted by mengedegna at 4 40 am 7 comments tuesday july 17 disinformation wow it is not often that i am shocked by the workings of this government anymore but today they have managed to do it again today they have launched a massive disinformation campaign with the intent of discrediting the prisoners before they are released bereket ena and the ethiopian herald have been suprisingly busy since yesterday s sentences were handed down unfortunately for them there are too many of us who know the truth and are determined to make it known posted by mengedegna at 2 10 pm 4 comments monday july 16 life in prison the courtroom was packed once again and there seemed to be even more ferenji observers than usual it seemed especially cruel to keep everyone in suspense for hours considering the nature of the session but wait we did though the delay was not without its comic moments when for example the phones of the plainclothes spies rang repeatedly exposing them at once since the rest of us had to leave our phones keys etc with the guards at the door the prisoners were finally brought in after a 2 5 hour delay and the judges arrived a few minutes before noon all defendants and judges were present the judges concluded that because most of the defendants are well educated and therefore able to identify the legal consequences of their actions their sentence must reflect the severity of their decisions and actions however as the defendants are charged with attempt to overthrow the constitution rather than completion of the act which would permit the sentence of capital punishment the 38 defendants including those tried in absentia were sentenced to life in prison of the 9 who had chosen to defend it was announced that their defense attorney had not proven relevant extenuating circumstances berhanu alemayou wedneh jedi melaku oncha and mesfin jabesa received 18 years imprisonment abiyot wekjira ad daniel berihun received 15 years wenaksegad zeleke was handed a 3 year sentence and dawit fasil was sentenced to 1 year and six months all defendants who received a lesser sentence were also denied the right to participate in politics for 5 years both of the agencies charged were order to cease all operations serkalim publishing agency was ordered to pay a fine of etb 120 000 and sisaye publishing etb 100 000 dr berhanu appeared particularly disgusted with the sentences and got up to leave the courtroom but for the most part the prisoners and family members seemed to be expecting nothing less and took the news accordingly the prisoners left with their usual courage and deliberate cheer exchanging grins and the v sign with friends and family members as they passed the road back from kaliti to the city center was lined with more police than usual and some were in full riot gear masks and shields ________________________________ today s session was nothing less than infuriating to hear each article of the penal code invoked as if it actually had meaning in this country and to have to listen to the descriptions of post election violence as if the independent commission itself hadn t ruled that government forces were responsible for the excessive force that lead to the deaths of 193 innocent civilians was too much it makes one ill to witness such blatant manipulation of the truth and mockery of justice in a federal institution how long can this go on posted by mengedegna at 2 23 pm 7 comments saturday july 14 antethesis of justice diplomatic etiquette more than two weeks ago human rights bill hr2003 was postponed for mark up the result of dubious american attempts at negotiation with one of the world s most brutal dictators the us state department has since further neutralized their language and the press is treating the negotiations as nothing more than the claims of those in captivity despite the fact that the initial leak to the washington post was reported to have come from us state officials the momentum that was building over the past month seems to have come to a complete standstill yet today the prisoners remain in kaliti while the prosecution demands their execution of course there are rumors swirling meles is trying to preserve the independence of the court and the us is giving him the space to do so provided the prisoners are released immediately following the sentencing fine however it is my opinion that even if this is true it does not excuse their shamefully submissive conduct in the meantime why the tiptoeing around since when has it become the responsibility of a free and democratic nation to cater to the sensibilities of such a wanton violator of human rights regardless of what is being negotiated in private bewteen these two countries i am appalled by the continued public observance of the diplomatic etiquette that enables oppressors to escape the consequences of their actions ___________________________________________________________________________________ on monday we will enter the courtroom clinging to the hope that the sentencing is all part of the larger geopolitical game but meles has proven on countless occasions that he can not be trusted and any concessions made by him must be regarded accordingly he has already failed to deliver on his promise of releasing the prisoners with the postponment of the bill why then will he not balk at these obligations once more after the sentence is handed down it is obvious that he does not possess the integrity required to keep his word and therefore should not be regarded by diplomats as a man of such principle posted by mengedegna at 5 30 am 5 comments monday july 9 good luck called my driver as i got out in front of the federal high court we had never discussed politics previously but today he asked who i support when i replied he broke into a grin today is a big day he said tell them good luck we are with them i got out into the pouring rain and made my way through the mud to where family members and journalists were already gathered the entrance process took far longer than usual today and the guards were deliberately more rough in their searches it was difficult to find a place to sit and by the time the session began there was not a single seat remaining the prisoners entered soon after looking well and assumed their usual poise of courage strength and defiance the prosecutors followed and then the judges mohammed was absent and it appeared for a moment like the usual delay tactics it was annouced that the prosecutor would give his closing statement and that the nine who had chosen to defend would have the opportunity to present their defense in three days time as they requested a copy of the closing prosecuting statement in order to respond the prosecutor began citing the charges that remained and the penalties assigned to them according to the criminal code the 2nd and 3rd charges we were told carry 15 years imprisonment and 10 15 years respectively the 5th charge carries between 5 25 years imprisonment or depending on the severity of the crime life imprisonment or capital punishment the 1st charge is also punishable by the latter he demanded that because none of the defendants had shown any remorse for the crimes committed in 2005 all must receive the maximum sentence death for some reason just hearing those expected words spoken out loud came as a shock there was complete silence in the courtroom except for the wife of one of the prisoners who let out a strained laugh and was immediately thrown out of the courtroom the prosecution concluded that the agencies charged should also receive the maximum penalty of a birr 500 000 fine and full closure then we all filed out back into the rain posted by mengedegna at 9 12 am 8 comments monday july 2 misc meles is mobilizing the army in case of an eritrean invasion i hate to say it but the propaganda around here sounds similar to the stuff that ushered us into the somalian invasion yikes the next court session is still scheduled for a week from today there is also supposed to be another session three days later in which the prosecuter will appeal the charges that were dropped posted by mengedegna at 4 43 am 4 comments friday june 29 of lies and other things yesterday in parliament the pm gave a pretty dry speech apparently the objectives of this government are peace development and good governance who knew addressing the very real threat of an eritrean invasion right everyone expected him to discuss the negotiations which explains why so many people were actually watching etv at city cafes which was finally kindly raised by an eprdf official nothing like damage control check the ez post here it seems that meles is now trying to pretend that the negotiations were the sole initiative of the shemagles a tradition that he tried to go along with as any proper ethiopian would but of course he reminded us yesterday no actual binding negotiations can take place political or traditional which would interfere with the almighty independence of the court am i allowed to say bullshit on this thing anyway that s all it is and i suppose we should have expected nothing more from him and there was more as reported by ap seems meles is getting a little hostile with the international community and now weilds the moral authority to condemn their appeals as both shameful and wrong according to the dillusional dictator in ethiopia there is nothing that can be resolved as a result of external pressure hmmmm hr2003 is set for mark up a couple of days after the next scheduled court session what a perfect time to demonstrate the magnanimity of the eprdf by sentencing them and then pardoning them just in time but no pressure of course forgive the sarcastic tone of this post i have long lost patience with the transparent antics of the government posted by mengedegna at 4 04 am 7 comments thursday june 28 parliament i still haven t been able to confirm whether meles was in dc yesterday or not though i have heard from numerous sources that professor ephrim is there either way the pm is still scheduled to appear here in parliament later this morning no one seems to know what the session will be about exactly some here are speculating that it would be the perfect time to release the prisoners quietly as all the foreign correspondents will be inside without their mible phones but this seems just another rumor more later posted by mengedegna at 4 00 am 3 comments wednesday june 27 no court session it is two hours before the court session was to begin i just found out that the prisoners will not be appearing before the judges instead those who wished to defend are required to submit documents to the court 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