Ethiopian court denies opposition leaders bail

Jan 4, 2006 (ADDIS ABABA) — A Federal High Court judge denied bail Wednesday to 129 Ethiopian opposition leaders and other people facing treason, genocide and other charges, leading to chaotic scenes that forced the judge to abandon the hearing.

The charges against opposition leaders, journalists and aid workers stem from violence that erupted in November during protests over the disputed May 15 elections that returned Prime Minister Meles Zenawi to power.

Some of the accused have been in prison since Nov. 1, when the government began a crackdown affecting independent media, opposition politicians and human rights activists in an effort to crush the violent protests in which at least 46 people were killed.

In similar protests in June, 42 people died.

The protests began after the main opposition parties accused authorities of rigging the polls that returned the governing party to office.

Judge Adil Ahmed walked out when a spokesman for the defendants shouted that the charges against them were fabricated and they refused to recognize the court’s authority.

“I am accused of fabricated charges,” shouted senior opposition leader and Addis Ababa Mayor Berhanu Nega to cheers from fellow defendants and relatives packed in the court.

“We do not recognize the authority of the court to try us,” he said when Adil asked the 80 defendants who appeared at the hearing if they were ready to proceed with the case.

“We were only serving our country as responsible leaders,” Berhanu said, before Adil refused to allow him to continue addressing the court.

(AP)