Prosecutor seeks death for 38 prisoners

By Anita Powell, AP Writer

July 9, 2007

“The crime of the CUD leaders is they ran for parliament and won.”- US Congressman Donald Payne (June 8, 2007). Read also Amnesty Intl’s Prisoners of Conscience

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AP) – Ethiopian prosecutors on Monday asked for the death penalty for 38 politicians and activists accused of inciting violence in an attempt to overthrow the government.

The court is expected to issue a sentence on July 16. The accused, who have chosen not to defend themselves, did not speak during Monday’s session but will have a chance to do so during next week’s court session.

“They have not shown any sign of regret in the court, and they have not (accepted) the sovereignty of the court,” prosecutor Abraham Tetemke said during Monday’s court session. “Therefore we request that they should be punished with capital punishment.”

The prosecution said they felt the maximum penalty was appropriate for the leaders, who were part of a group of more than 100 people jailed for allegedly inciting violence after Ethiopia’s controversial May 2005 elections. While there is a death row in Ethiopia, no one has been executed since 1999.

“They have attempted an outrage against the constitution and the constitutional order, and attempted to disintegrate the nation,” Tetemke said. “They have created violence and many people lost their lives. … This criminal act has caused a serious social crisis.”

After court adjourned Monday, family members of the accused shuffled out silently, some with shocked looks on their faces, others wiping away tears.

Mulatu Teklu, 67, walked dazedly out of court after he learned that his youngest son, 32-year-old Yenene Mulatu, could die for his actions.

“I’m very sorry,” he said, shaking his head. “I’m very sorry.”

Others were more optimistic. Asrat Tassie, a former defendant and opposition politician who was among 25 defendants released from jail in April, said he was sure that a deal to pardon the leaders would come to fruition.

Addis Ababa swirled with rumors for weeks about a deal to pardon the prisoners, but Prime Minister Meles Zenawi rebuffed them, saying that the matter would be decided by the courts.

“I’m sad, naturally, because this ordeal has to end somehow,” said Asrat, who was elected to a seat in parliament but who, like the other opposition leaders, has refused to take his seat. “We expect that some kind of negotiation is going on and this will come to a pleasant end.”

Sham Trial

The BBC on its part reported a woman sitting among the friends and relatives laughed derisively when the prosecutor demanded the death sentences. The judge stopped the proceedings and she was escorted from the court.

The constant delays are hard for some of the prisoners’ families to bear. Some women were visibly upset; others said bitterly that the government was deliberately delaying the case and playing with their lives.

Their offences included outrage against the constitution and, in the case of party leader, Hailu Shawel, and four others, inciting, organising and leading armed rebellion.

The government has repeatedly said it cannot interfere in the judicial process.

However once sentence has been passed, then there may be the possibility of clemency or pardon.

Their relatives say the 38 have signed a document which could see them freed.

The BBC reporter says this could be some form of apology or plea for mercy.

The government has denied accusations that the convictions were intended to stifle political dissent.

But an opposition lawyer said the trial was a sham and mockery of justice.

Hundreds of thousands took part in demonstrations complaining of fraud and rigging in the elections won by Prime Minister Meles Zenawi’s party.

Most of the dead were protesters killed by security forces.

An independent inquiry carried out by an Ethiopian judge concluded that the police had used excessive force.

He went on to accuse them of carrying out a massacre. The judge later fled Ethiopia, saying he had been put under pressure to change his findings and had received death threats.

The prosecution also called for the banning of three independent publishing houses linked to the accused and for their owners to be fined about $55,000 each.

Meanwhile, Yalemzewd Bekele, a prominent human rights activist who was this year’s Bindman’s Law and Campaigning Award nominee, along with Alemayehu Fantu, a prominent businessman who was tortured shortly after detention, were charged with attempts to overthrow the government by force, offenses that at least carry 15 years in prison, according to Ethio-Zagol.

The two were arrested in October last year while reportedly distributing an opposition calendar which calls for civil disobediences aimed at forcing the government to release the opposition leaders and human rights actitivists.