By Barry Malone
ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) – A leading Ethiopian opposition politician was freed on bail on Wednesday after he was jailed last November after the government accused him of working with rebels, his party said.
Bekele Jirate, 54, a top official with the Oromo Federalist Democratic Movement (OFDM), was accused by the authorities of working “hand-in-glove” with insurgents like the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF).
“I am very happy because not only is he important for our party, he is innocent,” OFDM leader Bulcha Demeksa told Reuters. He said no date had been set for Bekele’s trial. The OFDM said another leading opposition politician remains in solitary confinement.
The OLF is one of several rebel groups in the Horn of Africa nation and has been fighting for independence for the southern Oromo region since 1993.
Opposition groups accuse Prime Minister Meles Zenawi’s government of harassment, and the OFDM says the security forces have jailed hundreds of ethnic Oromos in recent months. The government denies it.
Bulcha called for the immediate release of Birtukan Mideksa, a former judge who heads the newly created Unity for Democracy and Justice party. She has been in solitary confinement since December and went on hunger strike for 13 days last month.
Regional analysts consider the 34-year-old to be the country’s foremost opposition figure.
“She has been jailed because she is a very strong and serious contender to Prime Minister Meles,” Bulcha said.
Birtukan was first jailed after elections in 2005 ended in street violence that killed 199 civilians. She was pardoned in 2007 after she agreed, along with other opposition leaders, to take responsibility for the unrest.
She was rearrested after refusing to retract a speech made in Sweden last year in which she denied she was involved in the talks that led to her release.
The OFDM accused the government of intimidation as voters went to the polls last April for the first time since the 2005 bloodshed. It said almost all its nominees for the local elections had been threatened and forced to pull out of the race. Ethiopia will hold parliamentary elections next year.
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FORUM | 2 Comments
The Mel
es regime has understood that Obama and his administration can`t be cheated anymore in the pretext of war on terrorism. The acting secretary of african affairs who visited Ethiopia few weeks ago has told Melles Zenawi in bold that he can`t continue his harassment and genocide from now on. That is whu they released Ato Bekele and there is a rumor that the EPRDF leadership has split-up in those who supports Birtukan`s release immediately and some that opposes her release. Since Melles is a very known political acrobat, he strongly supports her release; while some arrogant such as Bereket and Sebhat are against it. But whether they like it or not Birtukan will be freed soon.
[Reply]
February 4th, 2009 at 11:05 PM
Meles has realized that he cannot win the heart of people by force. If he arrests Mr. Bekele Jirata or Mrs. Birtukan Midekisa, thousends of Bekeles or Birtukans will appear or rise up again. One cannot stop the flow of river by standing on the way of it.
[Reply]
February 5th, 2009 at 9:49 AM