የአቶ አንዱዓለም አራጌ፣ የአቶ እስክንድር ነጋና የሌሎች ተከሳሾች የዛሬ የፍርድ ቤት ውሎ- መስከረም 4፤2004 ዓ.ም

“በ2004 ዓ.ም. በሀገሪቱ ውስጥ የሽብር ተግባር ለመፈፀም በቡድን ተደራጅተው ሲንቀሳቀሱ ማስረጃ አግኝቼባቸዋለው” በማለት በትናንትናው እለት በቁጥጥር ስር ያዋላቸው የፓርቲ አመራሮችና ጋዜጠኛ አራዳ የፌደራል መ/ደ ፍርድ ቤት ተዘዋዋሪ ችሎት ቀርበዋል፡፡

በቅድምያ በችሎቱ የቀረበው እውቁ ጋዜጠኛ እስክንድር ነጋ ነበር፡፡ አጃቢ ፖሊሶች ማንም ሰው ወደ እስረኛው ሆኖ ወደ ችሎቱ እንዳይቀርብ በመከልከላቸው የችሎቱን ሂደት ማንም አልተከታተለውም፡፡ ሆኖም ጋዜጠኞች ዳኛው ጋር በመቅረብ መከልከላችንን አስረድተው ወደ ችሎቱ ለመግባት ለማስፈቀድ ችለዋል፡፡ ቀደም ሲል የቀረበው እስክንድር ነጋ ፖሊሲ የጠየቀውን የ28 ቀን ምርመራ ጊዜ ተጠይቆበት ለጥቅምት 02 /2004 ዓ.ም. በ8፡00 ሰዓት ተቀጥረዋል፡፡

በመቀጠል አቶ ዘመኑ ሞላ የቀረቡ ሲሆን ፍርድ ቤቱ የተከሰሱበትን ጉዳይ ያውቁ እንደሆነ ጠይቆዋቸው፣ ፖሊሲ እንደ ነገረኝ በሽብርተኝነት ተጠርጥረህ ነው ብሎኛ፣ እኔ ስለ ሽብር ተግባር የማውቀው ነገር የለም፡፡ በቅርቡ የአንድ ፖለቲካ ፓርቲ አመራር ነኝ፡፡ ፓርቲያችን መስከረም 21 ቀን 2004 ዓ.ም. ሠላማዊ ሰልፍ ለማድረግ ጠይቀን ነበር፡፡ ከዚህ ውጭ የማውቀው ነገር የለም ብለዋል፡፡

ቀጥሎ የአንድነት ለፍትህና ለዴሞክራሲ ፓርቲ ቤሄራዊ ምክር ቤት አባለት የሆኑት አቶ አሳምነው እና አቶ ናትናሄል መኮንን በቅድመ ተከተላቸው በዳኛው በአቶ ሙሉ ክንፈ ፊት ቀርበው፣ በሽብር ተግባር ተጠርጥረሃል ከመባል ውጭ የፈፀምነው ወንጀል የለም ብለው መልሰዋል፡፡ ፍርድ ቤቱ የ28 ቀን ጊዜ ቀጠሮ በመስጠት ለጥቅምት 02 /2004 በ8፡00 ሰዓት ቀጥሮዋቸዋል፡፡

በመጨረሻም የቀረበው የአንድነት ለፍትህና ለዴሞክራሲ ፓርቲ ም/ሊቀመንበርና የህዝብ ግንኙነት ቋሚ ኮሚቴ ሰብሳቢ እንዲሁም የመድረክ ስራ አስፈፃሚ አባል የሆኑት አቶ አንዱዓለም አራጌ ናቸው፡፡ ፍርድ ቤቱ በምን እንደተያዙ ጠይቋዋቸው ፖሊሰ በሽብር ተግባር ነው ብሎኛል ሲሉ መልሰዋል፡፡ ፖሊሲ የ28 ቀን ጊዜ ቀጠሮ ጠይቆቦታል፣ የሚሰጡት ሃሳብ አሎት ተብሎ ሲጠየቁ አቶ አንዱዓለም  “አንድ ለመጀመሪያና ለመጨረሻ ጊዜ የምናገረው ሃሳብ አለኝ፡፡ እየተፈፀመ ያለው ተግባር የተቃዋሞ ፖለቲካውን ለማፈን የተወሰደ እርምጃ ነው፡፡ ከእንግዲ ወዲያ ፍርድ ቤቱ የፈለገውን እርምጃ ሞትም ቢሆን መውሰድ ይችላል፡፡ ሌላ የምሰጠው አስተያየት የለኝም” ሲሉ መልሰዋል፡፡ በመቀጠልም ዳኛው የምጠይቆት የእርሶን መብት ለማስክበር ነው፡፡ በሚናገሩት ነገር እርምጃ መውሰድ ይችላል፡፡ ፍ/ቤቱ ሊያከብሩ ይገባል ሲሉ ዳኛው አቶ ሙሉ ክንፈ ተናግረዋል፡፡ ፍ/ቤት በነጻ የዳኝነት ስርዓት የሚያከናውን ነው፡፡ በፍርድ ቤቱ አያምኑም? ሲሉ የተናገሩ ሲሆን አቶ አንዱዓለም በመጨረሻም “እኔ ነጻ ነው ብዩ አላስብም” ብለዋል፡፡

የአንድነት ፓርቲ ሕዝብ ግንኙነት ክፍል

VOA Amharic Service on Debebe Eshetu's Arrest

Wikileaks cable: Ethiopia reporter Argaw Ashine 'flees'

BBC

Argaw Ashine

Ethiopian reporter Argaw Ashine has told the BBC he has fled his country because he was cited in a US diplomatic cable released by Wikileaks last month

He said he was interrogated by officials seeking the identity of his government source referred to in a 2009 cable about press harassment.

"It was a bit scary... not a wise idea to stay in such a scenario," he said.

Wikileaks says the cable does not cite Mr Argaw as a US embassy informant and "no journalistic source is named".

But the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) says it is the first instance in which a citation in a Wikileaks cables has caused direct repercussions for a journalist.

"The threat we sought to avert through redactions of initial Wikileaks cables has now become real," Joel Simon, the executive director of the US-based media watchdog said in a statement.

"A citation in one of these cables can easily provide repressive governments with the perfect opportunity to persecute or punish journalists and activists," he said.

Ethiopian government spokesman Shimellis Kemal told the BBC the country's laws gave "protection for journalists not to disclose the sources of their information".

'Face the consequences'

Mr Argaw, who works for Kenya's Daily Nation newspaper and is chairman of the Ethiopian Environment Journalists Association, requested that his location not be revealed for safety reasons.

He said he fled over the weekend after he was summoned for intensive questioning by officials from the Government Communication Affairs Office (GCAO) on two occasions and a third time by the police with regard to the US cable of 26 October 2009.

It was relating attempts to silence the private Amharic language Addis Neger newspaper, which has since closed and its editors fled the country.

"A contact within GCAO told the Addis Ababa-based Daily Nation reporter Argaw Ashene [Ashine] that the GCAO had drawn up a list of the six top Addis Neger officials... who they plan to target in order to silence the newspaper's analysis," the cable says.

Mr Argaw told the BBC he knew from his source about a plan to charge the Addis Neger journalists under anti-terrorism laws, but did not pass this information directly to the US embassy.

"We had a discussion to support and to help those friends at the Addis Neger newspaper... and the embassy representative was part of the discussion," he told the BBC's Focus on Africa programme.

Mr Argaw said he had refused to give into the intimidation as ethically he felt he could not disclose his source.

"I was summoned by the police and they clearly told me that I have two choices, disclose my source, otherwise face any possible consequences.

"We have this anti-terrorism bill and according to that law I [could] face 20 years in prison with a single charge," he said.

"Many of my friends and colleagues are facing similar charges and they are forced to flee the country."

'Paranoia'

Mr Argaw said he did not feel betrayed by the US embassy as the leak was not intentional, but the events of the last week had come as a shock.

"It's very sad, within a week leaving your home without any preparation. I love my country and I love my job and it's a big loss for me."

Mr Shimellis said Mr Argaw had been telling "absolute lies".

"I'm sorry for Mr Argaw for undergoing paranoia without any tangible cause for entertaining such fears," the government spokesman told BBC Focus on Africa.

"There was no single occasion for anyone - any journalist - for being a subject of harassment, interrogation on account of disclosing the source of his information and the Addis Neger journalists have closed down their business for reasons that have nothing to do with their political persuasion."

Wikileaks said the CPJ was being misleading in its statement, as Mr Argaw was only mentioned in passing in the cable and was not on a list of journalists sent by the CPJ asking that their names be withheld before the cables were published.

"While, it is outrageous for a journalist to feel the need to leave their country for a period, neither is it good for the CPJ to distort the facts for marketing purposes," Wikileaks said in a statement.

ALERT: Journalist Eskinder Nega and UDJs Secretary-General Andualem Arage Arrested

Eskinder Nega

Andualem Arage

The Ethiopian security intelligence apparatus has arrested today prominent journalist Eskinder Nega and UDJs young and outspoken secretary-general Andualem Arage, state media ETV reported. According to ETV three other people have also been arrested. It is to be recalled that acclaimed artist Debebe Eshetu was detained by the same a week ago. Watch the news here.  

Famed actor charged under new anti-terrorism law

By Peter Heinlein, VOA

Ethiopian police have arrested a famous actor in an ongoing roundup of terrorism suspects that has also netted journalists and prominent opposition politicians. Opposition leaders and rights activists are accusing the government of using a new anti-terrorism law to silence political dissent. 

Legendary stage and screen actor Debebe Eshetu was shown on Ethiopian television in handcuffs, the latest in a series of government opponents to be charged under a broad anti-terrorism law that went into effect earlier this year.

Debebe was the face of Ethiopia’s political opposition during the 2005 election campaign, appearing in television ads for the Coalition for Unity and Democracy. He was among opposition leaders convicted of treason and sentenced to life in prison after disputes over the election results led to demonstrations in which nearly 200 protestors and 6 police officers were killed. All were later pardoned.

Government spokesman Shimeles Kemal says Debebe is accused of having links to the Ginbot Seven, a political party led by Berhanu Nega, who was elected mayor of Addis Ababa in 2005, but never took office and later went into exile in the United States, where he is a professor at Bucknell, a prestigious East Coast university.

Berhanu has advocated the overthrow of the current government by any means, and his party was one of five organizations outlawed under the new terrorism law.

Spokesman Shimeles said anti-terrorism police had been monitoring Debebe’s activities for some time.

"According to federal police, he was arrested yesterday [Thursday] afternoon on suspicion of involvement in clandestine terrorist activity that links him to Ginbot Seven," he said. "The police had information regarding the activity of this particular person and was following him very closely until they thought it is time to execute arrest."

Debebe’s arrest shocked many Ethiopians who know him as a legendary stage and screen actor. A former colleague in the CUD, Mesfin Hailemariam, called it ‘inconceivable’ that Debebe would be plotting a terrorist attack. In a telephone interview, “Professor Mesfin” as he is known, expressed concern about the wave of arrests under the anti-terror law.

"This is going on now and I don’t know where it will lead us," he said.  "As far as I’m concerned, Debebe Eshetu is not a person who could be involved in any violent plan."

Debebe’s arrest comes at the end of a two week period that has seen dozens of people charged under the new anti-terrorism statute, including journalists and prominent opposition politicians.

Two leaders of parties representing Ethiopia’s Oromos, the country’s largest ethnic group, were arrested days after meeting a pair of Amnesty International delegates. The Amnesty team was expelled from the country.

At a news conference Friday, leaders of the main opposition bloc Medrek condemned the roundup as politically-motivated.

Former Ethiopian President Negasso Gidada, now a Medrek leader, says the arrests are intended as a warning to anyone who might oppose the ruling party.

"It is only blackmailing people and having them arrested without cause, just to intimidate not only them, but those of us who are outside of prison," he said. "But we want to say to the government, this will not help, it will even strengthen our dedication, our commitment to struggle for freedom."

The anti-terrorism law has also been used against five journalists, including two Swedish freelancers who were caught in the company of an outlawed rebel group in Ethiopia’s restive Ogaden region. Two reporters for independent Ethiopian newspapers were also arrested, though the government denies the charges have anything to do with their journalistic activities.

The fifth accused is the operator of a stridently anti-government website based in the United States.  Elias Kifle of the Ethiopian Review website was charged in absentia. The website is among many, including voanews.com, that are blocked in Ethiopia.