Ethiopia: Detained Opposition Leader Paraded On State Tv, As Crackdown Against Party Members Continue

By Staff Writer

Outlawed Ginbot-7 Party opposition leader Andargachew Tsige appeared on Ethiopian state television in prison following his controversial extradition from Yemen.

Ethiopian government spokesman Shimeles Kemal told the press on Wednesday July 9 that the British national will face the consequences of his actions under Ethiopian law.

Andargachew, second in command of Ginbot - 7 Party which is based in USA also holds British citizenship was convicted to death in absentia in 2009 and 2012 for planning to assassinate government officials - a charge he denies.

But Andargachew claimed to be no longer at war with the government and vowed to "calm down."

"I have found peace... I don't have any hatred, any anger, no resentment," he said, appearing on state television with a scruffy grey beard.

He was arrested on 23 June in Yemen's Sana'a airport en route to Eritrea, and transferred to Addis Ababa the same day, according to Ethiopia's state broadcaster, ETV.

Ethiopia's National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS) and Federal Police Joint Counter-terrorism Taskforce said Andargachew was notorious for using several aliases, including Jen-Paul, James-Franci, Tufa, Derbaba, Robi and Wedi-Harena among others.

Britain's Foreign Office slammed Yemen for extraditing Andargachew in defiance of international law, and urged Ethiopia to ensure his safety.

"We expect immediate consular access, and requested reassurances that the death penalty imposed in absentia will not be carried out," Britain's Foreign Office said in a statement.

Ethiopia accuses Andargachew of plotting attacks, according to ETV, and said he was training opposition groups in neighbouring Eritrea, Ethiopia's long-time foe.

"He was working to hinder the country's development progress and to destabilize the country," the broadcast said.

In 2012, several people were charged for having links to the group, including journalist Eskinder Nega and opposition leader Andualem Arage, who was sentenced to life in prison.

Abebe Wendmagegn, another British national of Ethiopian origin, and some of his collaborators were arrested, on Jan. 24th this year.

It was claimed the individuals were arrested while preparing to detonate a bomb around Bole-Medhanialem area, and that Wendmagegn was under the command of Andargachew.

Yesterday Wednesday 9 in a related development, another crackdown by NISS against three opposition parties saw the arrest of four individuals from Semayawi party (Blue part), Arena-Tigray party and Unity for Democracy and Justice (UDJ/Andinet) party.

Ina rather vague admittance, the NISS in a statement said the police have arrested suspects who it claimed to have been part of legally registered opposition party groups but were working with Ginbot-7 and its "media affiliate" ESAT, a popular satellite TV broadcasting from abroad.

Although the statement failed to identify the identities of the four individuals who were detained yesterday, social media source reveal the identities as: Abraha Desta of Arena-Tigray, who is the party's executive members and prominent among Ethiopia's social media circle, Habtamu Ayalew and Daniel Shibeshi of UDJ/Andinet, and Yeshewas Assefa of Blue party.

In a rare but stern warning the statement further said neither being a journalist nor being a member of legally registered opposition party group; nor is carrying foreign passports are tantamount with immunity.

Recently, Desta wrote that eight people who are members of his party were detained by the police and were subsequently charged with terrorism. Another 115 members of the party were detained at several detention facilities in the northern part of Ethiopia, according to Desta.

This latest crackdown follows another crackdown two and half months ago against a group of six bloggers writing for the blog site Zone9 and three independent journalists. Although they have appeared before court for more than four times, all of the nine bloggers and journalists are detained without charges.

Meanwhile rights groups have criticized Ethiopia's anti-terrorism law, accusing the government of using it to silence dissent and curb freedom of expression.

Ginbot - 7 was founded by Addis Ababa's former mayor-elect, Berhanu Nega, and calls for the violent overthrow of the ruling party.

Its name commemorates the Ethiopian calendar date, 15 May in the Gregorian calendar when post-election violence in 2005 left over 200 people dead.