Lawyers for the Civil society leaders told the court that they couldn’t be sure of the accuracy of the translation by Walta. The judges asked the lawyers to check the documents and present their objections to the court until Friday through the office of the judges if they found the translation inaccurate, according to Ethio-Zagol.
The blog, which is acclaimed for its accurate reporting, said the session took only 30 minutes. Professor Mesfin Wolde-Mariam, at 76 the nation’s leading human rights activist and one of the prisoners who face fabricated charges of treason and attempted genocide, asked the court why it was adjourned to March 23.
The judge said the court would on March 23 declare the ruling as to whether the accused would defend their case or go home free.
KALITI, Ethiopia – A much-publicized trial of Ethiopia’s leading political leaders and independent journalists has been – as expected – adjourned until March 5, thus marking the beginning of a sham trial with no end in sight.
Observers dismiss the adjournment report as a government ploy to prolong the trial endlessly.
“Documents are being sought by the prosecution and this means there wouldn’t be a trial on March 5,” says Alemayehu Zemedkun, a prominent Ethiopian attorney living in the US. “The prosecutor will ask the court to be given more time to study the documents…if the said documents are made available on the said date in the first place.”
Alemayehu said the court would grant more time to the prosecution which would in turn hatch excuses after excuses of ‘seeking more time to gather documents’ with the sole objective of buying time while the prisoners languish behind bars for longer periods of incarceration.
The attorney, who fled Ethiopia last year after turning down Prime Minister Meles Zenawi’s order to fabricate civil cases that would lead to the confiscation of the property of Coalition for Unity and Democracy Party (CUDP-Kinijit) leaders, warned that the strategy of subjecting government opponents was a known form of eliminating the political adversaries by giving a semblance of due process.
Concerning the event at the court on February 19, Lewit has the details:
This morning, stern-looking policemen in tan uniforms lined the road all the way from the federal prison to the High Court in Kaliti, where two local wagons, a white police SUV and a blue-camoflauged federal wagon filled with armed soldiers sat outside the gates, clearly marking the resumption of the trial. The entrance line was unusually long today, and included approximately 20 foreign observers waiting under the grey sky twith the rest o register and submit their IDs.
Once all were admitted, not an empty seat remained in the court room. The defendants looked well and were obviously overjoyed to see one another after the long recess– Bertukan especially seemed to enjoy greeting every individual with a kiss before returning to her seat..
After an hour and a half delay, the session began and lasted less than an hour—Judge Adil quickly announced that the court would be adjourned until March 5th, apparently to allow for 3 things
The translation into Amharic of the press conference given by Hailu Shawel shortly after the elections to the American Press Club
The translation of all written documents into Amharic, apparently to be provided to all defendants at the next hearing
To allow for the compilation of all election results and reports from the National Electoral Board of Ethiopia (NEBE)
A low, collective moan was heard from the bench of the defendants at this announcement, before they were ushered out of the court room and driven away in two separate buses before the smiling, waving crowd of spectators that had gathered outside to show their support.
(I tried to discreetly take a picture, and though I waited for an opportunity when no policeman was looking, a man in plain clothes rushed over to a nearby policeman. I am not sure what was said but both men gestured to me and then the policeman went over to speak with two other armed men…plain-clothes security??? I didn’t stick around to find out the consequences of my actions.)
