March 22, 2006
Sedist Kilo
You can get things so out of perspective.
This morning, there only seemed to be one important thing going on in Addis Ababa. The imprisoned opposition leaders, journalists and alleged rioters were up for their latest court appearance.
Red-beret special forces were back on the streets, speeding around town in open-top camouflaged pick-ups. They passed every ten minutes or so, two soldiers standing up at the front with assault rifles balanced on the roof of the cab, their fingers about two centimetres away from the trigger.
I was walking up towards Sedist Kilo, hoping to get a photo of the armed prisoner-escort vehicles as they left the court. Beige-uniformed police stood 50 paces apart either side of the road up to the university, swinging truncheons in their hands.
Just on the university junction of the Sedist Kilo roundabout, two feet from the policemen, a beggar was stretched out on his back, mouthing a few words and holding his hand out for small change. He looked unusually emaciated. A traffic warden had stopped to spoon-feed some milk into his mouth. I pushed a small amount of money under his blanket and walked on trying to find a good place for a shot.
No more than five minutes later I passed the spot again. A blanket had been placed over the man's face. The traffic warden said something in Amharic. “He's dead“, translated a couple of passing university students. “HIV”.
Twenty minutes later a grey van arrived to take the body away. Apparently, people who die on the streets of Addis Ababa without anyone to claim them first get taken to Menelik Hospital, then buried at one of a number of specially set-aside plots.
Just before lunch at the court at Sedist Kilo, the proceedings came to a conclusion - charges dropped against some of the lesser-known defendants and yet another adjournment. I missed the mass exit and left without a picture.
UPDATE: This is what was happening inside the court.
Ethiopia court drops charges against 18 suspects - ReutersAn Ethiopian court dropped charges against 18 opposition members facing treason and genocide charges on Wednesday after the prosecution said it would not proceed with the case against them for now...
The trial was adjourned until May 2. Lead Prosecutor Shimele Kemal said the prosecution would maintain its right to re-institute charges against the 18.
Posted by aheavens at March 22, 2006 10:50 AM
Comments
heartbreaking
Posted by: Benjamin at March 22, 2006 11:08 AM
hi,
Thanks for the first hand info. Sorry for our people dying on streets of Addis and elsewhere.
It is also good news that charges against some of the defendants are dropped. Can you get and write more on the names of these persons?
Thanks
Posted by: dany at March 22, 2006 11:19 AM
Sorry dany, I was outside the court and didn't hear the decision first hand. You'll have to wait for the wires to file for concrete info. I did hear that the young man who claimed he was underage - and the VOA reporters charged in their absence in the US - were among those whose charges were dropped.
Posted by: andrew at March 22, 2006 11:33 AM
Thanks Andrew
It is because of the pressure of the US, the prosecutor not the “court” as reported by the Western Media dropped the charges against 18 people including the journalists of the VOA. Alas! How little the journalists who cover Ethiopia know the country. All the charges are of course political. The trial was initially planned as a show case of a transparent and fair justice system which Mr. Zenawi established in Ethiopia. The venue of the trials carefully selected in the rather ‘spacious’ hall of the Ministry of Finance at the heart of Addis’s power center. The trial has just started disintegrating. Do you know the lead prosecutor; Shimels Kemal was or still is the head of the Broadcasting Agency. For months before the detention of the opposition officials he was accusing the opposition with the same charges by the EPRDF--Radio Fana. Do you know that the judges of the trial are also carefully selected? It is like a special court and a special prosecutor. We will see a lot of drama. The soap has already started; the script is, however, badly written requiring many alterations and changes making the rehearsal for the actors a little more boring.
Posted by: Zendi at March 22, 2006 6:44 PM
What you have witnessed is the tip of the ice berg. I am sad,broken, heart spechless, confused and angry......Misery at the midest of plenty..sad reality of the modern day Ethiopia.
Ill functioning, social econmic and political system is breaking us into pices bit by bit.
thanks andrew, this is my second post on this one, but at least you will read it and may help you to understand how we feel about this self imposed misery.
take care
Posted by: Frank at March 25, 2006 12:00 AM
Hi,
Just tell me what is your critrea of an honest valuable opinion....why are you scared of the truth........you are one of a kind.
only 3 comment huh.... something is wrong here.
Posted by: Frank at March 26, 2006 10:15 PM
Dear Andrew and others,
Thank you so much for keeping us posted. I went to Ethiopia in January, and returning home I find that reliable information is hard to get.
Some people are trying to make the waters even more muddy. Please see this discussion on my homepage: http://www.akiaby.dk/?p=122
Posted by: Andreas Kiaby at April 5, 2006 8:11 AM