Ethiopian Review

Leader of the opposition Oromo Federalist Democratic Movement, Bulcha Demeksa, has told RFI that the government invented an alleged coup plot in order to justify a crackdown on the opposition.

“We are quite used to this pattern,” said Demeksa. “If an attorney general has evidence, why would he keep it to himself, why wouldn’t he immediately produce it?” he added.

“First of all, to arrest someone, a court must have some evidence of crime. In order to issue an arrest warrant the court must have an idea, must believe the story,” Demeksa told RFI. “So, where is it?”

More than 40 people were denied bail for a second time on Monday in relation to an alleged coup plot.

They have been accused of organising an attempt to assassinate senior government officials and planning to attack public utilities, although they have yet to be charged.

“The pattern is this: people get arrested, a lot of talk, a lot of news, and then nothing comes out of it. Then they are remanded, sent back to jail without any charge,” said Demeksa, who spoke on the line from Addis Ababa.

But Demeksa said unlawful arrests will not silence the opposition.

“The greater the pain, the louder the voice,” he told RFI. “Our people are regularly arrested in groups like this, and kept in jail for many, many months, and sometimes years, without any evidence. Many are released without any sentencing.”

(RFI)