Ethiopia charges 55 gov’t opponents with rebellion

June 5, 2007 (ADDIS ABABA) — The Ethiopian government has charged 55 opposition members with trying to launch an armed rebellion, the state-run Ethiopian News Agency (ENA) reported on Tuesday.

The case is the latest to be brought against the opposition, and in particular members of the Coalition for Unity and Democracy (CUD), since 2005 parliamentary elections ended in violent protests that killed nearly 200 people.

“The 55, who were members of the CUD, are charged with conspiring to launch armed rebellion against the government, following the 2005 national election,” ENA reported, quoting charges brought by the prosecution on Monday.

The defendants were not immediately available for comment.

The group received its orders from exiled leaders in the United States and Germany, ENA quoted the charges as saying.

This case is separate from an earlier one that has outraged human rights groups, in which 131 opposition leaders, journalists and activists were charged in December 2005 with treason, inciting violence and attempting to commit genocide.

The crackdown tarnished Prime Minister Meles Zenawi’s democratic credentials and prompted donors, including Britain and the European Union, to halt direct budgetary aid to sub-Saharan Africa’s second most populous nation.

Meles, who denied vote-rigging accusations, has said the opposition incited the violence to overthrow his government.

Of 131 people first charged in that case, 45 have now been acquitted and 36 are being tried in absentia.

(Reuters)