JOHANNESBURGH – The struggle being waged by millions of Ethiopians and their friends for the release of jailed opposition leader Birtukan Mideksa is very similar to the struggle waged in the mid-’80s to free anti-apartheid activist and ANC leader Nelson Mandela, a community has said in a press statement on Friday.
The Ethiopian Association in South Africa said Birtukan Mideksa, leader of the rising opposition Unity for Democracy and Justice (UDJ) is the equivalent of Myanmar’s dissident, Aung San Suu Kyi.
One solid year since jailed, Birtukan was handed a life term by the kangaroo court of Meles Zenawi, one of the most ruthless tyrants in Africa.
Following is the full text of the press release:
All Ethiopians residing in South Africa hereby join Amnesty International and Ethiopians living in various parts of the world in remembering Judge Birtukan Mideksa’s first year of solitary confinement.
Miss Birtukan, 36, is a single mother, an elected member of the Ethiopian Parliament, and President of the Unity for Democracy and Justice Party (UDJP) of Ethiopia. The UDJP is the biggest faction of the Coalition for Unity and Democracy (CUD) in Ethiopia, and is the political group that is widely believed to have won the stolen election of May 15th, 2005.
In November 2009 her party was further strengthened by Prime Minister Meles Zenawi’s own ex-comrades, Dr Negasso Gidada, the former Head of State and Mr. Seye Abraha, the former Defence Minister of Ethiopia, two prominent new members who abandoned the ruling party for the UDJP. The UDJP is also one of eight parties that make up the MEDREK coalition.
Judge Mideksa is recognized by Amnesty International and several other human rights organizations. Thousands regard her as the Aung San Suu Kyi of Ethiopia. She was imprisoned by the Prime Minister of Ethiopia just four weeks before her planned visit to Johannesburg at the invitation of the Ethiopian Community Association in South Africa.
We call upon all civil and political leaders in South Africa to join the campaign for the immediate and unconditional release of Judge Birtukan Mideksa. We also condemn Zenawi’s recent defamation and character assassination of Judge Mideksa.
