ADDIS ABABA – Police on Tuesday arrested youths in the Ethiopian capital for collecting petitions and wearing T-shirts that call for the release of prominent opposition leader Bertukan Mideksa.
The youths are now being held at the police station for Kirkos sub-district in the Ethiopian capital, a source said.
Detainees identified so far are:
Gezahegn Mitiku
Asaminew Berhanu
Zegeye Eshete
Kidist Bekele
Natti Mekonen
Farah Abdella
Kidist Bekele was a prisoner with former Kinijit leaders who were arrested for nearly two years shortly after the government launched a nationwide crackdown to quell protests over the stolen 2005 elections.
Bertukan, leader of the widely popular Unity for Democracy and Justice (UDJ), was jailed one year ago today and condemned to a life sentence for exercising her right to freedom of expression. As a tribute to the charismatic first female leader of a major opposition party in Ethiopia’s history, anniversary programs were being held – despite arrests – among UDJ members and supporters in Ethiopia as well as throughout the free Ethiopian Diaspora.
Earlier, a request to conduct a candle light vigil at Meskel Square in Addis Ababa was turned down by the ruling party. The event was organized to highlight the illegal arrest of Bertukan, and call for her unconditional release.
UDJ officials have reiterated they would pursue the peaceful form of struggle, even though they say that the ruling party’s activities are aimed at frustrating the opposition to resort to violence.
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.
“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,” the activists in South Africa said in the statement.
