Ethiopian ‘coup plot’ trial opens
May 2, 2006 (ADDIS ABABA) — Ethiopian prosecutors on Tuesday accused a group of jailed opposition figures of conspiring with Eritrean-backed rebels to foment a coup by inciting violence after disputed elections last year.
Laying out the state’s case against the 111 defendants on the opening day of their trial, prosecutor Shimeles Kemal said the group had worked with rebels supported by Asmara to destabilize the government in Addis Ababa.
“They have been collaborating with a clandestine Ethiopian organization, the Ethiopian Patriotic Front, which is supported by the Eritrean government and has openly declared an armed struggle to overthrow the government,” he said.
The 111 — 101 individuals, four political parties and six newspapers — all stand charged with conspiracy to foment a coup, while 54 face more serious charges ranging from high treason to genocide that could draw death sentences.
Those charged with high treason, including nearly the entire leadership of the opposition Coalition for Unity and Democracy (CUD), have been specifically linked to the previously unknown Ethiopian Patriotic Front, Shimeles said.
“We have in our possession a letter of cooperation between the guerilla group and the CUD,” he said after the hearing, adding that the charge was particularly serious due to tensions between Ethiopia and Eritrea.
“There is an imminent threat of war and the Eritrean government wants to see Ethiopia weakened, so by cooperating with this Eritrean-backed guerrilla group, they have committed high-treason,” Shimeles said.
Arch-rival Horn of Africa neighbors Ethiopia and Eritrea fought a bloody 1998-2000 border war and tensions remain high along the frontier as each accuses the other of malfeasance.
The claim of Eritrean complicity came as the prosecution began its case against the defendants under intense international scrutiny and criticism from human rights groups.
Despite calls from aid donors for the release of the accused and allegations of political motivation in the case, Shimeles said the defendants had inspired unrest after the May 15, 2005 polls.
“All defendants had the same criminal objective: to overthrow and dismantle the duly established government through violence, this is their common objective,” he said. “All the defendants participated in instigating riots.”
He said the genocide count — denounced as “absurd” on Tuesday by the human rights group Amnesty International — related to alleged targeting of the Tigrean minority during post-election violence.
At least 84 people were killed — many by security forces — in two explosions of violence in Addis Ababa and provincial towns in June and November during opposition protests against alleged electoral fraud.
The accused, including 25 being tried in absentia, are mainly CUD members, journalists and civil society groups and were rounded up after the second wave of clashes.
They have been repeatedly denied bail, despite the ill health of several, and some detainees on Tuesday said they had been mistreated by authorities, including being beaten and put in solitary confinement for no apparent reason.
Federal High Court Judge Adil Ahmed asked prison authorities to investigate the complaints of abuse and adjourned the case until May 8, when the prosecution is expected to present its first evidence.
As the trial was set to start on Tuesday, London-based Amnesty International called on the government to free immediately all those charged, maintaining they were “prisoners of conscience.”
“This very worrying trial has major implications for human rights, media freedom and democratisation in Ethiopia,” it said, adding that the accused are “prisoners of conscience who have not used or advocated violence.”
(ST)