ADDIS ABABA — Ethiopia’s opposition leaders and journalists accused of “treason and genocide” by the ruling party declined to answer trial questions on Thursday, standing by their previous statement that the charges were fabricated, and the judiciary was not independent in the country.
Hailu Shawel, chairman of Coalition for Unity and Democracy Party (Kinijit), the opposition party which was widely billed to have won the May 2005 elections, dismissed the charges as irrelevant. “I have seen the charges and the evidences, none of them reflects the Ethiopian reality and the signatures that are claimed in the evidence do not belong to me at all,” he said.
The trial began with the accused, facing wide-ranging charges including conspiracy to overthrow the government and treason, refused to enter their plea, which under Ethiopian law is interpreted as a not guilty plea, presiding Judge Adil Ahmed said.
“With the exception a few individuals, most of the defendants prefer to remain silent when asked to enter plea of guilty or not guilty,” Adil said.
“As this is their right in line with the criminal code of the country, the court has recorded their decision of choice as a plea of not guilty,” Adil added.
The three, who said that they were innocent of the accusations, are members of a nongovernmental organization. Their lawyer said that the charges against them were not specific and urged the court to release them.
“The charges against my clients are so general and never specify the time, place and the way it [the crime] is committed so that the defendants right can be protected,” said defense lawyer Alemu Denek. “For these very reasons, I would like the court to set free my clients.”
But prosecutors requested the court to reject Alemu’s arguments maintaining that the charges against them were clear.
The 129 people facing charges after two were acquitted, include 29 leaders of Ethiopia’s main opposition party Coalition for Unity and Democracy (CUD) and 19 journalists.
The court adjourned the trial to March 1.
On Wednesday the opposition members said that they would not defend themselves against the charges, saying that the country’s justice system was not independent.
Their charges relate to protests against last May disputed elections, which they say were fraudulently won by Prime Minister Meles Zenawi.
The government accuses the CUD of inciting violence in a bid to overthrow the government in the wake of losing the May 15 elections.
But the opposition claims that the polls were rigged by Meles’ ruling party and staged protests against the alleged fraud in June and November that erupted in violence, leaving at least 84 people dead, many at the hands of police.
Court controlled by Meles: Berhanu Nega
Meanwhile, according to the BBC, none of the accused answered questions, saying the trial was political. Some wore black t-shirts and put their hands over their mouths when asked to plead.
One of the Coalition for Unity and Democracy (CUD) leaders, Berhanu Nega, said the court was controlled by Mr Meles, who had already found them guilty.
Some diplomats told the BBC they feared that the trial could drag on for a long time. They pointed out that the trial of those accused of mass murder under the former regime of Haile Mengistu Mariam is still underway 15 years after it began.
Thirty-five of the accused are abroad and are being tried in absentia.
As well as CUD officials, the accused include journalists and civil rights activists. The genocide charges relate to alleged attacks on members of Mr Meles’ Tigrayan community.
Mr Meles has come under strong international criticism amid allegations that his government is reneging on democratic commitments.
Some 8,000 people have been freed since opposition arrests after two waves of poll protests in June and November in which more than 80 people died.
(Middle East News and BBC reports are included in the above report)
