Temesgen Desalegn – an Ethiopian embodiment of courage

October 29, 2014

by Hindessa Abdul

In one of his articles Temesgen discusses how the struggle of the Ethiopian opposition and other activists were reduced from raising political and civil liberty issues to merely demanding the release of opposition figures or imprisoned journalists. Ironic as it may seem, now the 37 years old is in the later’s shoes and rest assured others certainly will not stop demanding his release.

Temesgen Desalegn, publisher and editor of the now defunct Feteh and a couple of other newspapers, has been found guilty of articles that were published in his paper between July 2011 and March 2012.

The five page charges for the most part interrelate to each other. On top of that, some of the charges listed negate the very essence of journalism. One of the charges states “with a view to change the mindset of the youth.” The whole point of writing is the fight for the hearts and minds of citizens; to contribute to making an informed debate and decision making. Devoid of such ordinary logic, the charges evolve around incitement, mischaracterization of the government, manipulation and defamation.

Five articles written in that time frame were presented as evidence. After two years long deliberation, the Federal High Court found the defendant guilty as charged. On October 27,2014, he was sentenced to three years in prison.

Ethiopia court sentenced journalist Temesgen Desalegn to three years in jail

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Temesgen Desalegn

Ethiopia court sentenced journalist Temesgen Desalegn to three years in jail.

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The Thugplomacy of the TPLF (by Alemayehu G. Mariam)

October 20, 2014

by Alemayehu G. Mariam*

I have often contended that the ruling regime in Ethiopia controlled by the Tigrean Liberation Front (TPLF) is a thugtatorship, the highest stage of African dictatorship.  If democracy is government of the people, by the people and for the people, a thugocracy is a government of thugs, for thugs, by thugs.

My concern in this commentary is not the domestic policy but the international diplomacy of the TPLF thugocracy? I am minting the terms “thugplomacy” and “thugplomat” to describe the recent outrageous criminal conduct of an accredited gun-toting diplomatic TPLF representative who fired several shots in an attempt to murder Ethiopian protesters on the chancery grounds.

The man described by Reuters as the “gunman [who] opened fire during a protest on the Ethiopian Embassy grounds is  Solomon Tadesse Gebre Silasse, a TPLF  “security attache” with full diplomatic immunity.  The shocking and bizarre facts of Gebre Sillasies’s shooting spree on September 29 have established a new low in the annals of international diplomatic corps.

According to Reuters news service, “A spokesman for the U.S. Secret Service said it had detained a possible shooter after a report at about 12:15 p.m. EDT that shots were fired near the [Ethiopian] embassy in northwest Washington, D.C. Witnesses said the gunfire took place inside the embassy compound during a protest…”

CPJ – Ethiopian authorities convict journalist in Addis Ababa

October 16, 2014

(CPJ) Nairobi, October 15, 2014–An Ethiopian court on Monday convicted journalist and magazine owner Temesghen Desalegn in connection with a 2012 defamation case, according to news reports and local journalists.

The Federal High Court in the capital, Addis Ababa, found Temesghen guilty of incitement, defamation, and false publication in connection with a series of opinion pieces published in Feteh (“Justice”), the journalist’s now-defunct weekly newsmagazine, according to local journalists’ translation of the charge sheet that was reviewed by CPJ. Authorities took Temesghen into custody Monday afternoon.

If convicted, the journalist could face up to 10 years in prison, according to his lawyer,Ameha Mekonnen. His sentencing is scheduled for October 27, according to news reports.

Ethiopian Journalist Temesgen Desalegn Convicted

October 15, 2014

Ethiopian Editor Convicted for Inciting Public With Articles

by William Davison (Bloomberg)

An Ethiopian editor is facing as many as 10 years in prison after being convicted of inciting the public against the government through his newspaper articles, his lawyer said.

Temesgen Desalegn, the former editor of Feteh, a defunct weekly newspaper, was convicted yesterday by the Federal High Court on charges that also included defaming the government and distorting public opinion, after a case that lasted about two years, lawyer Ameha Mekonnen said. He will be sentenced on Oct. 27.

“Temesgen becomes the first journalist who’s accused and found guilty only for what he’s written in a newspaper,” Ameha said by phone today from Ethiopia’s capital, Addis Ababa. “The evidence was only his writing, nothing else.”

ውርደት! – መለስ ፣ ስብሃት፣ የኢህአዴግ ኤምባሲ ከዚያስ?

አገርና መሪ ላላቸው ኤምባሲ አገር ነው

ሰሞኑን ኢህአዴግ በፈለፈላቸው ድርጅቶች ታጅቦ የ”ባንዲራ ቀን” በሚል የመለስን ፈረጀ ብዙ ዝክር ሊደግስ ከወዲያ ወዲህ እያለ ነው። አቶ መለስ “ጨርቅ” ብለው ሲያነሱና ሲጥሉት የነበረውን ያገር መለያ ለፈጠራና ከጀርባው ተንኮል ያዘለ ዓላማቸው ሲሉ ቀኑ እንዲዘከር አድርገዋል፤ የምዕራባውያን ጉዳይ አስፈጻሚ እንደመሆናቸውም የታዘዙትን በሠንደቅ ዓላማው ላይ ጨምረዋል። በዚሁ የ”ባንዲራ ክብር” ሳይሆን በሌላ አህጉራዊ ክስተት ራሳቸው ያሰፉትን ጨርቅ ገልብጠው ባደባባይ ሰቅለውት ነበር። በወቅቱ ራሳቸው ያሰሩትን ባንዲራ አናትና ግርጌ መለየት ባለመቻላቸው ተወግዘውበታል፤ የትግራይን ቢሆን እንዲህ ያደርጉት ነበር ተብሎም ተጠይቋል።

ባድመ ስትወረር “ደርግ ኢሰፓ” ተብለው ጎዳና ላይ የተጣሉት የቀድሞው ሰራዊት አባላት ለዳግም ዘመቻ “እናት አገር ጥሪ” ሲተም በገጸ በረከትነት የተሰጠው ያደራ ቃል ኪዳን ይኸው “አታስፈልግም ጨርቅ ነህ” የተባለው መለያ ነበር። ሲፈልጉ የሚጥሉት፣ ሲጨንቃቸው የሚያነሱት መከረኛ ባንዲራ ዳግም አጀንዳ ሆኖ ሰሞኑንን ቀርቦልናል።

በአሜሪካ በሚገኘውና ኢህአዴግ “ኤምባሲ” በሚለው ቅጥር ግቢ ውስጥ ወዲ ወይኒ የሚባሉ ታጋይ የፈጸሙት ድርጊት ነው የባንዲራን ጉዳይ ዳግም አጀንዳ ያደረገው። የወዲ ወይኒ ገድለ ዜና አስገራሚ የሆነባቸው፣ ያሳዘናቸው፣ ያናደዳቸው፣ የተደፈርን ስሜት የፈጠረባቸው፣ ክስተቱን በመቃወም ኢህአዴግን በመወከል መግለጫ ያወጡ፣ እስከመቼ ኢህአዴግ “ሆደ ሰፊ ይሆናል” ብለው የጠየቁ፣ አሜሪካንን የወነጀሉ፣ ውጭ ጉዳይ ሚ/ር ጆን ኬሪ ለፍርድ እንዲቀርቡ የጠየቁ፣ … በተለይም የሳይበር ሚዲያውን አጣበውት ከርመዋል። በሌላ በኩል ዜናውን እንደዜና ብቻ ወስደው ሚዲያ በዘነጋቸው ኢትዮጵያዊያን ላይ ለሚደርሰው ግፍ ያዘኑ ስፍር ቁጥር የላቸውም።

ዋሽንግተን በሚገኘው የኢህአዴግ ጽ/ቤት ውስጥ የመዋቅሩ “መሪ” ተብለው የተቀመጡትን ግርማ ብሩን ለማነጋገር እንደመጡ የሚናገሩ ኢትዮጵያዊያን ላይ ወዲ ወይኒ ጥይት ሲተኩሱ ተሰምቷል። ታይቷል። ተረጋግጧል! በኢትዮጵያ ስም የተሰቀለው የህወሃት/ኢህአዴግ ዓርማ ወርዷል! በዚሁ በፊልም ተደግፎ በቀረበው ዜናና የማህበራዊ ገጽ ዓምዶች ላይ ዋሽንግቶን ከተማ ከዋይት ሃውስ 4 ማይል ርቀት ላይ በሚገኘው የኢህአዴግ ግቢ ውስጥ ተሰቅሎ የነበረው “ጨርቅ” ወርዶ ተጥሏል። “የጨርቁ ፍቅር ያቃጠለው” የጽህፈት ቤቱ ሰራተኛ የተጣለውን “ጨርቅ” ሰብስቦ ወደ ቢሮ ሲያስገባም ከካሜራ እይታ አላመለጠም። እንግዲህ ይህንን እውነት ነው ለመካድና “ከዓይናችሁ ጆሯችሁን እምኑ” እየተባልን ያለነው።

በሌላ በኩል የህዝብ ቀልብ ለመሳብ “ባንዲራ ያዋረዱ” በሚል “ኢህአዴግ በፈቃዱ ያሰራውን ጨርቅ” አውርደው የጣሉትን ለመክሰስና ከሃዲ አድርጎ ለመሳል ተሞክሯል፤ ሙከራውም ቀጥሏል። ሁኔታውን የሚከታተሉ እንደሚሉት “ይህ የኢትዮጵያ ባንዲራ ነው” በማለት የሚጠሩትን ጨርቅ “ይህ የእኔ ባንዲራ አይደለም” በማለት ቀዳደው የሚጥሉ ዜጎች በምን ሂሳብ ተቃውሞ ይሰነዘርባቸዋል የሚል ጥያቄ እያነሱ ነው።

Lawlessness at Washington EPRDF Embassy

October 3, 2014

by Robele Ababya

The patriotic young peaceful protesters occupied the Embassy compound in Washington on 29/09/2014. Their epic act of courage is signified by the historic fact that they lowered the provocative TPLF flag and hoisted the true centuries old, deeply revered, tri-color Ethiopian Flag – GREEN, YELLOW, and RED – symbolizing development, faith in God, and sacrifice for freedom in that order.

Ethiopians vehemently hate the pentagram emblem displayed on the YELLOW strip of the TPLF flag intended to fool Nations and Nationalities. The satanic pentagram was a symbol used by pagans to worship devils in the era before the advent of Christianity. This heroic deed must have surely infuriated the rude diplomats in the Woyane Embassy in Washington.

The Ambassador attributed the heroic demonstration held on 29/09/2014 by young Ethiopians on the Embassy grounds to jealousy because President Obama received Prime Minister and heaped praise on him for the performance of his government. But jealousy was not the case at all! The Ambassador saw opportunity for covering up the naked recent massacre of Ethiopians in the Ogaden and Gambella regions of Ethiopia – a gruesome act of genocide condemned by the international community including the United Nations and HRW.

Honoring Ms. Ana Gomes!

October 2, 2014

by Geletaw Zeleke

Today I take up my pen to write and honor one world leader whom I am convinced must be a representative of God for her sheer determination and commitment to justice and democracy for oppressed people on this planet. I first came to hear of Honorable Ana Gomes during the 5th month of 2005 in Addis Ababa City where I was living at the time. During that time the general atmosphere in Addis Ababa had totally changed before the days leading up to the May 15th National Election. I don’t know who promised them that the election would be free and fair but spirits were very high. People around the University, at the office, outside on the street and in the coffee shops were all talking about the impending national election. All seemed very hopeful that for the first time in their history they were going to be able to choose their own leaders. People everywhere I met talked about the election and held up two fingers to show support for CUD the opposition party. It was around that time that we learned the EU parliament had sent an election observation commission led by Ana Gomes and also we heard that Jimmy Carter Center’s election observation team came to Ethiopia. Ana’s face appeared for the first time in Medias where she was encouraging free and fair elections on the eve of the 2005 Election. It was great having Ana Gomes with us during this historic time.

Election Day finally came and people headed out to election centers early in the morning. Little kids were buzzing around election centers and surrounded bulletin boards where results were posted trying to be the first to relay the good news. What did their instincts tell them? I wonder. The whole day people cast their votes and throughout the country a Very peaceful election took place. It was perhaps the largest turnout in our history. Finally, Addis Ababa City and Ethiopia itself was calm and people everywhere were excited to hear what they assumed would be positive results. People were so happy when they first heard that the CUD had won 100 per cent of the seats in Addis Ababa capital City. Such a result, however, was more than a little unusual. How on earth could all 23 seats be taken by the opposition party leaving zero to the ruling party in a capital city of one country? Such a result had never before occurred in a democratic election history. Not only that, the disparity of votes was incomparable across election centers in Addis Ababa. The CUD had won by a landslide. These results show many realities but we’re not going to talk about what the staggering number of pro-opposition votes does or does not prove today.