Meles was ironically lecturing about food security when Abebe, the independent satellite TV (ESAT) program host and producer, brought the sky crushing down on Meles, telling the startled audience “Freedom before food!”
Abebe chanted many times with a defeaning voice: “Meles Zenawi is a dictator! Free Eskinder Nega! Free Political Prisoners! Food is nothing without freedom! Meles has committed crimes against humanity! We Need freedom! Freedom! Freedom!” His voice was so powerful he brought the conference hall to a screeching halt.
Meles has never been humiliated from such proximity as he lives surrounded by an army of gun-totting security guards that keep civilians at bay.
“By humiliating Meles with such patriotic act,” one analyst said, ” I think Abebe has broken the ice, and more acts of patriotism would haunt the dictator till his final days in power.”
Abebe was escorted away by police officers he described as very respectful and understanding.
But a nearby Meles security guard threatened Abebe, “We will kill you!” Abebe told police that one of the security guards of Meles had threatened him with death.
An act reserved only for the hero, Abebe’s action speaks volumes about the political repression and frustration that has engulfed Ethiopia for over two decades.
Abebe first challenged Meles Zenawi at a World Economic Forum in May 2010 in Tanzania, when he grabbed the mike and asked a lecturing Meles why was then Ethiopia starving under his rule?
