22 April 2010, By Barry Malone (Reuters) - An Ethiopian opposition activist has been bludgeoned to death with a gun butt in the second politically motivated murder in the run-up to national elections on May 23, an opposition leader said on Thursday.
Bulcha Demeksa, a leader of the Oromo Federalist Congress (OFC), told Reuters the activist, Biyansa Daba, was attacked at home by members of the ruling party.
“Biyansa Daba was beaten on April 7 with the butt of a gun,” Bulcha said. “He died in hospital on April 16. He was a very strong up and coming figure.”
“Of course it was political,” Bulcha said. “They asked him to stop converting people to OFC, they warned him many times. Why else would anyone beat him?”
Government spokespeople were not immediately available to comment but routinely deny that members of the ruling Ethiopian Peoples’ Revolutionary Democratic Front intimidate the opposition.
In 2005, the results of the Horn of Africa country’s last elections were challenged by the opposition and some international observers.
Street riots erupted, security forces killed about 200 protesters and the main opposition leaders were imprisoned. Prime Minister Meles Zenawi said they were trying to oust him.
The OFC and other parties representing the Oromo - Ethiopia’s biggest ethnic group - say ruling party officials are intimidating and jailing their members.
The government denies it targets Oromo politicians and points to the fact that there are several Oromo government ministers and a ceremonial president of the country as proof.
Oromos, who number 27-million of Ethiopia’s 80-million people, have not held power in modern history. Ethiopia has more than 80 ethnic groups.
Prime Minister Meles is from the Tigrayan ethnic group, who make up 6 percent of the population and dominate the political and military elite.
Aregawi Gebre-Yohannes, an opposition candidate for the eight-party coalition Medrek - of which the OFC is a member - was stabbed to death in March.
The opposition says his killing was a political murder, but the government says Aregawi was killed in a bar fight. A man has been sentenced to 15 years’ jail for the killing.
Analysts expect the Meles government to win the election.
The opposition says the government scares people into voting for it. The government says the opposition is weak and is trying to discredit the poll. - Reuters
April 22nd, 2010 at 6:36 am
I think it is too early to point a finger at anyone at this stage.
April 22nd, 2010 at 7:31 am
Very sad!
April 22nd, 2010 at 8:11 am
Alula Aba Nega,
It always has been too early to tell you about killings and tourcherings done by EPRDF(TPLF). Watch my friends, We are going to see someone being paraded to the court and sentenced with in a day,and ofcourse we are going to be told he admitted the killing, the person is also going to say it was for personal reason. The story of EPRDF for the past 19yrs.Nothing new!
April 22nd, 2010 at 9:44 am
Revange is the answer. An eye for an eye.Why are the so called opostions just get killed without putting up a fight.
Can`t they see that Meles is afraid of his own shadow.
stand up and fight for your freedom!!!
April 22nd, 2010 at 10:11 am
There are more killings to come i afraid, as the fall of woyannes comes nearer more killings and arrest occur across the nation that will lead to the peoples uprise hopefully with out repeating the failure of election 97
in which woyanne (teklay washo) was on the run
Alula Nega
It seems that you are making a joke in cyber like your boss in rubber stamp.Should we have to go low beyond human imagination to talk to
you guys or there is one and only one languge that you understands?
even if that is the case you dont have no chance at all against the
Ethiopian peoples ,i can assure you not because we are afraid of your militia rather one human life is one too much for Ethiopian peoples ,if
your memory serves it was only a few years back that we have lost
about 70 thousand of our soldiers in badme and another thousands in somalia only for the benefit of a ruthless dictator who does not have a clue as he was going to dedebit desert, and now swims in the ocean
rather than building a small pool in his backyard where he can save his life.The tsunami warning is long over due to take him and his follower
to the deepest ocean of no return
April 22nd, 2010 at 11:06 am
Bulcha has long established a personality of irrationality. No one in his right mind would blindly point a finger of such crime commission at anyobody without having the facts to prove it. This is nothing but Bulcha’s politics of paranoia.
April 22nd, 2010 at 11:18 am
TPLF is killing strong opposition politicians in order to control the ever increasing threats of the last for Meles regime. They did the samething in Amhara region in the last election, they killed six potential representatives who were the leading forces in their region, and five people went to jail for it, and they were released immediately after the post election violence was put down. Oromo politicians are going to be killed in high numbers for they are the threat now.
April 22nd, 2010 at 12:15 pm
alula aba nega all the days until the conculsion of the system of things
speak with boldness when we engage in the politic,we also want to be peaceble with all. we need to maintain balance between boldness and tactifulness that we do not offend someone.
በዓለም ልዩ ልዩ መዲናዎች የኢትዮጵያን ታሪክ በማዛባትና የኢትዮጵያን ሕዝብ ያለማንነቱ በማስተዋወቅ ሕዝቡን ከኑሮው በማፈናቀል በማሰደድና በማስራብ ችግር እየፈጠሩ ችግር አስወጋጅ መስሎ አገርን ወገንን መለመኛ በማድረግ ሀብት ማጋበስ ሊያበቃ ይገባል:: በዛሬዋ ዓለም ውጥረት እንዲረግብና የተሻለ መቀራረብ መተባበር እንዲኖር በየአቅጣጫው ጥረት በሚደረግበት ጊዜ የኢትዮጵያ ሕዝብ ደም መፍሰስ መቀጠል የለበትም:: እንግዲህ የወያነ ጥረት የሚያመላክተው ሰላማዊና ፍትሐዊ ምርጭን ለመቀበል ስነምግባር አለኝ የሚለው ሕግ አልባ ለመሆኑ እያመሳከረ በራሱ ሕግ መገዛት አለመቻል ያሳያል: አሉላ በጣም የሚያሳዝነው በመስኮት ጭላንጭል ተደብቆ ነውሪና ዘላቂነት የሌለው ለራስ ጠባብ ጥቅም ሲባል አላደረግም አልገደለም ማለት ማንነትክን በርስ መተዳደር አለመቻልክን የሚያስይ ለመማርና ለማወቅ የማት ጥር በጠባብነት የተጠመድክ ለመሆንህ ለማስረዳት ሞክረናል ነገርግን ነገርህ ሁሉ ግርንቢጥ ማይ ናኣቀብ ስለሆን በጀግናው ስም ማጉደፍ ብታቆም መልካም ካልሆነም የአሉላ ዘሮች የጠፉ መስሎህ እንድሆነ ተሳስተሃል ነገርግን ጊዜው ቅርብ ነው ትጋለጣለህ: ማንነት ብለህ የምትዘብት በባዶ ሜዳ የምትጮህ በመሆንህ ካገላለጽህ ተመዝነሃል ይህን ተማር በአፍሪካ አርነት ከታገለች ሀገር ዛሬ የበቀሉ ልጆቿ የነጻነት ትርጉም ይህ መሆኑ ያሳዝናል::
ዕብሪተኝኦችን ጥቃት በመቋቋም ሰላምን ዐሰላማዊ መንገድ ከመሻት ወደሓላ አንልም ይህ ቁርጠኛ የኢትዮጵያ ልጆች አመለካከት በመሆኑ ነገን ተመልከት ዛሬ ያልፋል አንድነቱ ተመልሶ በመከባበር በመቻቻል ብልጽግና መረጋግት እንድለ እውንነቱን አረጋግራለሁ
ድል ለመድረክ ለጭቁን የኢትዮጳያ ሕዝብ
ውድቀት ለዘባቾችና ለሆድ አደሮች
April 22nd, 2010 at 12:31 pm
we know the whole ,we Ethiopians died since 1997 the rest of us are ghosts and we have to keep quite, we can not talk like alive !!!!!
April 22nd, 2010 at 12:47 pm
I suspect this the work of the Weyane hired guns. But, we probably won’t know for sure
April 22nd, 2010 at 12:47 pm
While people are being murdered because they support these motley crew of opposition groupings by the criminal woyane mafia, /// et al
are sitting in that den of rubber ducks and whining ad nauseoum.
There is an embarassing crisis of leadership in this so-called opposition camp. Oromos are being hacked, murdered constantly and the best those who claim to represent them can do is utter one line sentences about woyane’s bloody hand in it. Wow! what a novel observation. Their cynicism is so thick you can cut it with a knife with a dead blade.
April 22nd, 2010 at 3:44 pm
It is sad! it seems that a lot more people will die in this election. These bloody racists should know that they are making their future complicated!
April 22nd, 2010 at 4:30 pm
FACT IS,DEMOCRACY IS YOUNG IN ETHIOPIA, MISUNDERSTOOD BY MANY IN OUR COUNTRY.
I will not be surprised if there more death before the election since most of the opposition undermind the election process and supporters violence to grasp power, just like the 2005 election, where the opposition were attempting coup de`ta against the governemnt through orange revolution style street violence.
Peace !
April 22nd, 2010 at 7:07 pm
If you don’t stop killing our people something very bad is going to happen! mark my words.
April 22nd, 2010 at 7:41 pm
men what are you waiting for kill thos morron woyane’s mother fuckin ediot’s jangle minder’s! that what you want us to do it, Ofcourse we will kill you, you mother fuckin bastarid woyane go to school, you mind is full of sheeit, you stinck we approch you like human but you turn like animals…. we will finsh you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! full point
April 22nd, 2010 at 7:53 pm
the 4:30pm dedebit ///
your fascist woyane gang came to power through blood and you gangerenes will get your due. don’t forget that every one you murder has a brother, a sister that can take out every member of your crminal
enterprise. Do the math boy and you will get my point. At this point, your enemies are too many and your friends are verrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrry few.
April 22nd, 2010 at 10:52 pm
What i do not understand is how did woyane defeated our half millions armies and took over our palace ?
Woyane must have the voodoo magic or woyanes must be heroes, either way now we are stuck with woyane for may many many years to come, and i see no inkiling of light at the end of the tunnal.
April 22nd, 2010 at 11:12 pm
ጎብዝ ሊነጋጋ ሲል ይጨልማል እንደሚባለው ወያኔ መሄጃ እና መስናበቻው እየደረሰ መሆኑ
በየጊዜው የሚፈጸሙት ድርጊቶች እያሳዩን ነውና አይዞሽ አይዞህ ተባብለን ትግሉን እንቀጥልበት
April 23rd, 2010 at 12:26 am
Nuna,
Eventhough i respect your comment,i don’t agree with you.I said this because,unlike the above two morons(ALAMA and ANDNET BERHANE)you have a decency to tell me how wrong i am without insults and backward attitudes. For that you have my respect.Returning to the main point,i still belive that it is too early to know exactly who is responsible for the murder of Ato Biyansa Daba.Anyway we can still disagree without disrespecting each other. Have a nice day and take care.
April 23rd, 2010 at 12:56 am
“Analysts expect the Meles government to win the election.
The opposition says the government scares people into voting for it. The government says the opposition is weak and is trying to discredit the poll. - Reuters ”
…. I think this is a good improvement for Barry Malone. Let us hope the space that is included is also included in the original Reuters report.
April 23rd, 2010 at 3:51 am
አንድ እንሁን ….ወያኔ የጋራ ጠላት ነው….በልዩነታችንን ..ከተገኘው ድል በህዋላ እንነጋገር እስኪ …ሁላችንም ጸረ-ወያኔ አቅዋም ያለን እናስብበት ይሄንን ነገር…
April 23rd, 2010 at 7:50 am
RABISH or Rubbish,
Are you kidding me? You are the one who need to go to school.
April 23rd, 2010 at 10:05 am
Alula Nega
You are a real cyber clown to say the least ,and not more not less
and the other clown by the nick Ethiopian (dedebitan) i dont think
you can find a single Ethiopian who is not better than you and the
whole woyanne hooligans about democracy process,and the attempted
coup´de ta against the outlaws whom you called govt is on the way
but not by woyanne made oppositions rather by the peoples tsunami
like you have experienced in 2005 this time a well organized
April 23rd, 2010 at 12:06 pm
to ALULA ABA NEGA OR ALULA ABA MESHE! WE TOLD YOU TO GO TO SCHOOL BUT YOU AND YOUR
MORRON’S SHIFTAAND TERORST’S REFUSED TO GO TO SCHOOL, WHAT YOU WANT ME TO DO FOR YOU MEN, JORO KEN KAL KORETUT AYS MAMENA MN ADRG NW YMTLENG! YOU NEVER BEEN SCHOOL FOR EGE AND EGE’S, HUMAN BLOOD IT IS NOT LIKE CHIKEN BLOOD, MEN THINK ABOUT IT, I AND WE NOT GONNE BE RASH FOR REVENGE! WATCH OUT WHAT YOU AND YOUR JANGEL MINDER’S DONE TO US!!!!!! I AND WE PROMISE YOU WE WILL KILL YOU YOU WILL NEVER COMING BACK AGAIN, I THINK YOU KNOW’S ABOUT ME AND ABOUT US WE ARE ELIOT AND ELIOT’S PPL, I AND WE ARE NOTEDIOTLIKE YOU, I SAID AND WE SAID GO TO SCHOOL, GUY’S TIME TO GO TO SCHOOL………………………April 24th, 2010 at 12:33 am
Gentle readers,you, Ethiopians;the robbers are drenched in the blood of the murdered citizens.Are we waiting until the robbers are drowned in the ocean of Ethiopians’ blood or are we waiting until the blood thristy beasts get chocked on the blood of Ethiopians that they are drinking.
These robbers are devil in the head.Can we raid their head and belly?
Ethiopians,this is the second time when we lost two valuable citizens to the robbers;sad and heart-breaking,in just less than six weeks,we lost another brother.
Ethiopians,capture the fugitives dead or alive.
Ehiopians,as humans,we are deeply hurt chiefly because the robbers are killing us.We all remember how the robbers wasted the precious life of the children and the elderly in 1984/85. These robbers came into Ethiopia with weapons and guns and bullets purchased with charity money in millions of dollar and quickly scattered allover and accross Ethiopia and moved into villages,twons,cities,and the neighbourhoods and broke into homes and vandalised the lives of families.
Today,these robbers won’t leave home without loaded guns,cellphones,and knives.They have been killing Ethiopians as they want and when they want.For sure,they will be captured dead or alive;this fate of theirs is hovering over their sick head and eventually will they walk on their weak knees and ascend the stairs to the supereme court of the people of Ethiopia to receive bitter and hot punishment tantamount to the wicked and disgusting crime that they have been committed since in the wild.
Victory for all Ethiopians.
April 24th, 2010 at 2:26 am
This is the outcome of ethnic politics. The Bulcha demeksa party is not any different than TPLF! They both run and support ethnic federalism. So that is what they get. Ethnic based violence and ethnic based dictatorship! Trust me there will be more deaths to come.
April 24th, 2010 at 4:07 pm
we ethiopian must unite & to fight weyanne/tplf
http://ecadforum.com/blog/?p=3643
April 24th, 2010 at 7:04 pm
Alama and Rubbish,
You are the two Mamo Kilos who become a laughing stock in here.If you have any brain left in you skull,it is about time to realise your ignorance and do some thing positive with it.Empty bravado doesn’t take you any where, action does.So,stop playing like a toy soldier because you don’t have any clue about war and particularly its consequences.Take it from me i was in one once and it is not for a faint hearted like you two Mamo Kilos who love to play soldier here.Further more if you think your insults and ostentatious display of arrogance will keep me away from here, think again,because i ain’t go no where, no to you(Mamo Kilos) or anybody else. Have a nice day.
April 25th, 2010 at 12:52 am
እያንዳንዳችን ካልተባበርንና ካልተረዳዳን የበይዎች ተመልካች ሆነን መቀጠላችን የታወቀ ነው:: እስኪ ይህንን ጽሁፍ ላይ ከተገለጸው ይመልከቱ
“Oromos, who number 27-million of Ethiopia’s 80-million people, have not held power in modern history. Ethiopia has more than 80 ethnic groups.” ይህ ዕይታ ለማን ይበጃል?
April 26th, 2010 at 10:09 am
Alula nega
You told us to be two mamo kilos and to let our brain do something positive and protect ourselves not to be a laughing stock. How can
a person who is a sympetheiser of woyanne or paid cadre lined us
the true Ethiopians to be mamo kilos i am not surprised about it coz
that is the true nature of woyanne ,woyanne kills and ask who kill the guy woyanne loot he let hard working buisness peoples to prison by corruption ,woyanne prosecute peoples and starts training witness ,
woyanne plant bomb and show fingers to eritrea its creator and god father,woyanne plants ethnic and religeous conflicts and send some
of these actors to prison or kill ,if your memory serves it was not long
that they killed the commercial bank general manager to hide their bank looting and put it as a suicide,i dont actually like rumors as facts in this particular case that comes out after the removal of woyanne that azeb mesfin wife of the woyanne p.m driver has dissapeard who use to take her to tamrat geleta or drives tamrat geleta to the minilik palace and there are millions of such crimes in every house hold which are not told of fearing to be the next offer, as you are part of these devilish system
do you think you have the moral capacity to give us the mamo kilo stern like woyanne put tegadalays a general over night ,actually this is not directed to you rather for the others to judge who is the fool in this case?