A year to election, Ethiopia opposition cries foul

Above: Those arrested reportedly belong to a group headed
by former opposition party leader Berhanu Nega, an Ethiopian-
American economics professor at Bucknell University, who was
elected mayor of Addis Ababa in 2005. He has been accused of
masterminding a plot to assassinate officials.

May 14, 2009
10 hours ago

ADDIS ABABA (AFP) — Ethiopia’s opposition accuses the regime of pulling out all the stops to prevent change in next year’s elections, using a familiar arsenal of arbitrary arrests and trumped-up coup charges. Read more.

Related: VOA: Potential For Violence Shadows Ethiopia’s 2010 Election
By Peter Heinlein
Addis Ababa
06 May 2009
Ethiopia’s next national election is a year away, but tensions are already increasing. At least two opposition politicians have recently been jailed, both possibly facing life in prison, and security forces have arrested dozens of others, accusing them of plotting against the government. Both government and opposition leaders are expressing concern about the potential for election-related violence. Read more.

Ethiopia: Opposition Says Anti-govt Plot Invented (Reuters)

Above: Bulcha Demeksa, leader of one of the largest opposition
parties in Ethiopia.

By Barry Malone

ADDIS ABABA, May 5 (Reuters) – An Ethiopian opposition
leader said on Tuesday an anti-government plot had been
invented as an excuse to arrest potential candidates ahead
of national elections next year. Read more.

Ethiopia Denies Coup Plot, Calls 40 Detainees ‘Desperadoes’

Above: Berhanu Nega, an Ethiopian-American economics
professor at Bucknell University, who was elected mayor of
Addis Ababa in 2005, celebrates at his parents’ Addis Ababa
home after his pardon and release from prison, Friday, July 20,
2007. All arrested are members of an opposition group based
outside Ethiopia and led by the professor. (Photo: AP).

VOA
By Peter Heinlein
Addis Ababa
02 May 2009
Ethiopian officials say 40 people arrested over the past week had been plotting a campaign of assassinations and strategic bombings aimed at disrupting public order. Most of the suspects are said to be current or former army officers. Ethiopia’s communications minister Bereket Simon Friday attempted to reverse earlier claims that the government had foiled an attempted coup led by an exiled political leader living in the United States. Read more.

Related: Ethiopia Says It Arrested ‘coup plotters
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — The Ethiopian government has arrested 35 people suspected of a coup attempt allegedly backed by an Ethiopian-American economist now teaching at a Pennsylvania university, an Ethiopian government spokesman said Saturday. Read more.

By Elizabeth Blunt
BBC News, Addis Ababa

Ethiopia’s authorities say they have arrested 35 people who were allegedly plotting to overthrow the government. All are said to be members of Ginbot 7 (May the 15th), an opposition group based outside Ethiopia and led by the self-exiled politician Berhanu Nega. The Ethiopian government say the people arrested in Friday’s raids fall into two groups: some were soldiers and others civil servants. A government spokesman said they would be charged in court early next week. Read more.

Related: Bucknell University Faculty Stories

Berhanu Nega

Just over a year ago, Berhanu Nega was locked
in an Ethiopian jail. Now he teaches at Bucknell’s
economics department. Read more.



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


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