Ethiopian police arrest 43 opposition members over planned demo
Sept 26, 2005 (ADDIS ABABA) — Ethiopian police have arrested 43 opposition supporters for allegedly plotting violent subversion ahead of a weekend demonstration called to protest disputed May elections, the official Ethiopian News Agency reported Monday.
An opposition spokesman, however, rejected the accusations as false and accused authorities of launching a crackdown to stifle dissent and complaints of alleged massive fraud in the May 15 polls.
ENA reported that the detainees, arrested in the northern Amhara region, are accused of involvement “in violent activities aimed at subverting the constitutional order.”
“The suspects were arrested … while undertaking preparations to wage armed violence aimed at destructing the constitutional order,” it quoted Amhara State deputy police commission Habtamu Kibret as saying.
The report did not say when the arrests were made or give details of the alleged plot but said all the detainees were members of the All Ethiopia Unity Party, a member of the opposition umbrella group Coalition for Unity and Democracy (CUD).
Ethiopian officials over the weekend accused the CUD and the other main opposition group, the United Ethiopian Democratic Forces (UEDF), of fomenting violence and plotting a coup d’etat, charges they deny.
CUD spokesman Hailu Araya rejected the government’s accusations and said the arrests reported by ENA were of office workers and security guards and were not limited to Amhara.
“There is no preparation of any armed struggle, this is unthinkable as far as the CUD is concerned, it is not our principle to take up arms,” he told AFP, adding that the group thought that well over 100 of its members had been detained.
“The government is getting nervous for no reason,” Hailu said. “We always said we would operate within the provisions of the constitution. To take power by force is unbelievable for us.”
The CUD and UEDF have called a weekend mass rally to protest results of the May 15 polls which give the ruling Ethiopian Revolutionary Democratic Forces (EPRDF) a victory and to press home their call for the formation of a national unity government to oversee new elections.
Authorities have also warned the CUD and UEDF, which accuse the ruling party of massive vote fraud, of severe consequences for any illegal acts or violence that result from Sunday’s planned rally.
Protests over results of the election have already turned violence, with at least 36 and as many as 42 people killed when police opened fire on crowds during demonstrations in the capital in June.
According to final results for May 15 polls, the EPRDF — which has ruled Ethiopia for the past 14 years — and allied parties won 370 of the 547 seats in parliament.
The opposition, which held only 12 seats before, picked up 175, but insists that it won the election outright.
(AFP/ST)