By Elizabeth Blunt, BBC, Addis Ababa (23 April 2008 )- Ethiopia’s most popular pop singer, Teddy Afro, has pleaded not guilty to causing the death of a young man in a hit and run incident 18 months ago.
Thousands of young people mounted an impromptu protest after the High Court hearing, running through the streets, shouting, “Teddy is innocent”.
Unauthorised demonstrations are almost unheard of in Ethiopia and there was a heavy paramilitary police presence.
At a previous hearing, the noise of his fans almost drowned out proceedings.
This time the case was moved to a building at the back of the court area, well away from the crowd.
The singer appeared under close police guard, dressed in a pink t-shirt and looking subdued.
He spoke only to plead not guilty to negligent driving, driving without a licence, and failing to stop at the scene of an accident.
The incident in question took place in November 2006 and since then the singer, whose real name is Tewodros Kassahun, has been free on bail.
It is not clear why he was rearrested last week and has now been charged.
He was remanded in custody until next Tuesday.
As the news spread in the street that Teddy was going back to jail, the crowd erupted and a large group of youths started jogging past waving and shouting that the singer was not guilty.
The police chased them with batons until they finally dispersed into the surrounding streets.
This kind of demonstration has not been seen in Addis Ababa since the period after the elections in 2005 when Teddy Afro’s songs were playing everywhere and his music was the anthem of the anti-government protesters.
April 23rd, 2008 at 12:57 pm
Please read for link below:
http://www.abugidainfo.com/video/images/articles/teddy.pdf
በኢትዮጵያዊነት ላይ ያነጣጠረ
ጥቃት ነዉን ?
ግርም ካሳ
ከአሥራ አራት አመታት ስደት በኋላ አገሬን ለማየት ግንቦት ሰባት 1997 ዓ.ም አዲስ አበባ ገባሁኝ። የታሪካዊዉን ምርጫ ሁኔት ለመከታተል እድል አግኝቼ ነበር። ዛሬ ስለ ምርጫዉ ማወራት አልፈልግም። ነገር ግን ከፒያሳ ወደ መገናኛ ለመሄድ ሚኒባስ ዉስጥ ገብቼ ያጋጠመኝን ላጫዉታችሁ እፈልጋለሁኝ።
አዉታንቲዉ “መገናኛ ፣ ኮተቤ “ እያለ ተሳፋሪዎችን ይጠራል። ትንሽ እንደቆየን ሚኒባሱ ይሞላና ጉዞ እንጀምራለን። ከጎኔ አንዲት ወጣት ሴት ነበረች። ትንሽ እንደሄድን እንባ በአይኔ መፍሰስ ጀመረ። ከዚህ በፊት ሰምቼ የማላዉቀዉ፣ አይነት በሬጌ ቢት የቀረበና ልብን የሚሰበር ቃላት ያሉት ዜማ ሹፌሩ ያጫዉት ጀመር። “ይሄ ማን ነዉ ?” ብዬ ክጎኔ ያለችዉን ወጣት ጠየኳት። በመገረም አይታኝ “ቴዲ አፍሮ ነዋ “ ብላ መለሰች። ብዙ ጊዜ መንፈሳዊ መዝሙሮችን ስለምሰማ ድሮ ከማዉቃቸዉ ከእንደነ ነነጻነት መለሰ -አረንቻታና ከቴዎድሮስ-ጉዱሮዬ ዉጭ ብዙም የዘመኑ የኪነት ባለሞያዎችን አላዉቃቸዉም ነበር።
“ይቅር በለዉና የበደለን ወቅሰህ
ምህረት አስተምረን አንድ አርገን መልሰህ
ዘጸዓት ለኢትዮጵያ ወደ ተስፋ ጉዞ
ባህር የሚያሻግር አንድ ሙሴ ይዞ
ቅርብ ነዉ አይርቅም የኢትዮጵያ ትንሳዔ
በአንድነት ከገባን የፍቅር ሱባዔ
ፍቅር አጥተን እንጅ በረሃብ የተቀጣን
አፈሩ ገራገር ምድሩ መች አሳጣን
ኦሲሳ ኦሲሳ ኦሲሳ ማንዴላ
ይቅር አባብሎ እንዳስጣለ ሌላ
በተስፋዋ መሬት እንዲፈጸም ቃሉ
ሞፈሩን ያዙና ይቅር ተባባሉ”
እያለ ነበር ቴዲ አፍሮ የሚያቀነቅነዉ። ( በቅርብ ያየሁት ፎቶግራፎቹ (ጸጉሩን በአጭሩ ተቆርጦ ነዉ እንጂ የሚያሳዩት አፍሮ ሰዉ ሆኖ አይደለም። በዚህ ምክንያት ለምን ቴዶ አፍሮ እንዳሉት እስከአሁን ሊገባኝ አልቻለም። እንግዲህ በፊት ጸጉሪን አፍሮ ያደርግ እንደነበረ አላዉቅም) ።
ትዝ ይለኛል በምርጫዉ ዉዝግብ ወቅት የዩኒቨርስቲ ተማሪዎች ይህን በኔ ግምት እንደ ኢትዮጵያ የሕዝብ መዝሙር ሊቆጠር የሚገባዉን ዜማ እያዜሙ ነበር የምርጫዉ መሰረቅ ላይ ያተኮረዉን ተቃዉሟቸዉን የገለጹት።
የዜማዉ መልእክት ግልጽና ቀጥተኛ ነዉ። አገራችን ኢትዮጵያ የተፈጥሮ ሃብት ያደላት፣ ከማንም አገር በምንም የማትተናነስ እንደሆነች፣ እኛ ኢትዮጵያዉያን የደኸየነዉና የቆረቆዝነዉ ፍቅር በማጣታችንና ይቅር መባባል ባለመቻላችን ብቻ እንደሆነ ነዉ ቴዲ አፍሮ ደስ በሚያሰኝ ቃና የገለጸልን።
እርስ በርስ መገዳደል፣ እርስ በርስ መባላት አይበቃንም ወይ ነዉ ያለንን። እጀ ለእጃችን ከተያያዝን ፣ አንድ ከሆንን፣ በዘር በሃይማኖይት ካተከፋፈልን፣ ከግል ጥቅማችን አልፈን ለወገናችን ካሰብን የኢትዮጵያ ትንሳዬ ቅርብ እንደሚሆንና እግዚአብሄር አምላክም እንደሚታረቀን ነዉ ያስተማረን። በዚህ ዜማ ኢትዮጵያዊነትን አይቻለሁ። ፍቅርንና መተባበርን አሸትቻለሁ።
ይህ ብቻ አይደለም። ወደ አሜሪካ ከተመለስኩኝ በኋላ አንድ ወዳጄ ቤት እራት ተጋበዝኩኝ። በርካታ ሰዎች ነበሩ። ለካ ሌላ ተመሳሳይ ዘፈን ቴዲ አፍሮ ከዚህ በፊት አዉጥቶ ኖሯል ቀልቤን የሳበ በቪዲዮ የተቀነባበረ ዜማ ለማዳመጥ ቻልኩኝ። በዲዝኒ ኦስትራሊያ ኦሎምፒክ ወቅት ወገኖቻችን ያሳዩት አኩሪ ዉጤት ላይ ያተኮረና በምሳሊያዊነት የመያያዝንና የመደጋገፍን ጥቅም ለማሳየት የሞከረበት የዜማ ቅንብር ነበር።
አንጋፋዉ ሃይሌ ገብረ ስላሴ እግሩን በመታመሙ ወደ ኃላ ሲቀርና ቀነኒሳና ስለሺ ወደ ኃላ እርሱን ሲመለከቱ ነዉ ቪዲዮዉ የሚያሳየዉ። ወንድማቸዉ ወደ ኃላ በመቅረቱ ዉስጣቸዉ አዝኖ እግራቸዉ ወደፊት እየሮተ አይናቸዉ ወደ ኋላ ይመለከት ነበር። ሃይሌ ገብረስላሴ ፡
“ መርቆ ሸኝቶን አገር
አሲዞን ሰንድቅ አላማ
መርዶ ነዉ ለወገናችን
ማሸነፍ ካቃተንም
ብሰለፍ ሕመሜን ችዬ
እሮጬ ላራሩጣችሁ
ትልቁን እምነት በናንተ
ጥለናል እንግዲህ አይዟቹህ”
ሲላቸዉ ስለሺና ቀነኒሳ ደግሞ በተራቸዉ
“እዮሃ ከባንዲራዉ ነዉ
እዮሃ ቃልኪዳናችን
እዮሃ አታፍርም በኛ
እዮሃ ኃይሌ አባታችን “
እያሉ ኢትዮጵያን እንዲሁም “አባታቸዉን” ሃይሌን ሲያኮሩ እናያለን።
አንዱ ሲደክም ሌላዉ እያገዘ፣ አንዱ ሲወድቅ ሌላዉ እየተነሳ፣ በህብርት፣ በወንድማማችነት፣ እርስ በርስ በመታያየትና በመያያዝ አገራችንን ከዉርደት ማንሳት እንደሚቻል ነዉ የምንማረዉ። የኢትዮጵያን አረንጓዴ ፣ ቢጫ ቀይ ባንዲራ ከሌሎች አገራት ባንዲራዎች ከፍ ብላ እንድትዉለበለብ ማድረግ እንደሚቻል ነዉ ቴዲ አፍሮ ለማሳየት የሞከርዉ። ምሳሌዉ እሩጫ ሆነ እንጂ በሁሉም መስክ ፍቅርና አንድነት ካለን ቀዳሚ ያምንሆንበት ምክንያት የለም።
ታዲያ እንደዚህ ኢትዮጵያዊ የሆኑና የሚያነቃቁ፣ አገራችን ኢትዮጵያ ታላቅ ለመሆን ያላትን አቅም የሚያጎላ፣ የአንድነትን፣ የፍቅርን፣ የሰላምን የይቅርታን መልእክትን ይዞ የሚመጣን ወጣት ማሰርና ማንገላታት እጀግ በጣም የሚያሳስብና የሚያስቆጣ ድርጊት ነዉ።
“መንገደኛ በመኪና ገጭተሃል” በሚል ክስ ነዉ ገዚዉ ፓርቲ ይህን ወጣት በቁጥጥር ስር ያዋለዉ። በርግጥ መንግስት መረጃ ኖሮት ነዉን? ወይስ ይህ ሰዉ እነርሱ እንዲሰማ የማፈልጉትን መልእክቶች በማቅረቡ ? በርግጥ ሕግ የበላይ መሆን ስላለበት ነዉን? ወይስ ሕግን እንደ ዱላ ተጠቅሞ የተቀየሙትንና የማይሰማማቸዉን ሰዉ ለማፈንና ለማስወገድ ስለተፈለገ ነዉ? በኢትዮጵያ ፍትህ እንዲሰፍን ፣ ሁሉም በሕግ ፊት እኩል ስለሆኑ ነዉን ? ወይስ በኢትዮጵያዊነት ላይ ያነጣጠረ ጥቃት ? መልሱን በቅርብ ጊዜ ዉስጥ የምናየዉ ይሆናል።
እስከዚያዉ ግን ለዚህ ወጣት ያለኝን አድናቆት በመግለጽ እግዚአብሄር ባለበት ቦታ ጽናቱንና ብርታቱን እንዲሰጠዉ እጸልያለሁ። ኢትዮጵያዉያን ወደ እግዚአብሄር እንድንቀርብ፣ እግዚአብሄር ለሚወደዉ ፍቅር ልባችንን እንድናስገዛ ላደረገዉና ለሚያደርገዉ አስተዋጽኦ እግዚአብሄር ይባርከዉ እለዋለሁ።
April 23rd, 2008 at 1:26 pm
የአንባገነን ሁሉ ማጨረሻ ይሀው ነው::
April 23rd, 2008 at 2:31 pm
Teddy Afro atleast could of call Police or Ambulance to help the dieing young boy, instead Teddy hit the young boy by accident and then left the poor young boy on the street to bleed to death. And that is irresponsible and cruel act.
April 23rd, 2008 at 3:13 pm
Efrem;
what are doing in all prodemocracy site. What is your evidence that Teddy cause for the death the young. What if woyanne was doing that. What baffles me woyanne created something let down Teddy. you don’t need to be a scienstist to understand.It is woyanne well planned to plunge down Teddy afro. So efrem stop abusing the pro-democracy site.
April 23rd, 2008 at 3:21 pm
Sad sad sad…..
Do I have proof that Teddy is guilty? NO
Do I have proof that Teddy is innocent? NO
Do I believe that Teddy is guilty? NO
Do I believe that Teddy’s case politically motivated? YES
Why I believe Teddy’s case COULD BE politically motivated? Here are the reasons:
- When CUD leaders were “tried” for GENOCIDE, there was no genocide commited (not even attempted as it was altered to latter).
- When CUD leaders were “tried” for TREASON, there was no treason
- When thousands of Oromo students were/are arrested “because they are OLF members,” none of them were/are OLF members.
-The list goes on.
We may not know with absolute certainity whether Teddy is guilty or innocent, but we know this 100% sure: Ethiopians have ZERO trust in TPLF/EPRDF and its “institutions”. Otherwise Teddy’s arrest for whatsoever reason could NEVER have been such a hot issue.
Ethiopia and Ethiopians deserve a TRUSTWORTHY government and CREDIBLE judiciary and civic institutions. Right now we have NONE.
April 23rd, 2008 at 3:21 pm
Of course this is how it should be. If you are a suspect you should be watched untill it’s proven guilty or not guilty! Rather others are shouting in the air that he was imprisoned for political reason. Everybody can read the charges and it’s all about ”negligent driving, driving without a licence, and failing to stop at the scene of an accident.”. He didn’t sing supporting any political parties or for CUD. He sang for national unity and reconciliation!! He is just a peron with excellent morality. He just wanted to see a better ethiopia not CUD being seated on power chair!! The messages are also for you who want a revange!! Don’t forget that everybody is ethiopian. ሰዉን አታወናብዱ! ከማያቁት መላክ የሚያቁት ሰይጣን ይሳላል አሉ! Stop preaching that you deserve power now and bla bla…as you did in the churches in USA! Be fair and we are all connected!!
April 23rd, 2008 at 3:25 pm
Aleqa Bru,
”Ethiopia and Ethiopians deserve a TRUSTWORTHY government and CREDIBLE judiciary and civic institutions. Right now we have NONE.”
Great point!! But my question is where and how shall we get that?? Don’t tell me it’s you or your……….
April 23rd, 2008 at 3:49 pm
As it became customary in the Ethiopian judicial practice for the last dozen months, Tedy might be forced to ask and sign a “pardon”.
April 23rd, 2008 at 5:10 pm
Cool down gangs. I don’t know if Teddy is guilty or innocent. But we know that one poor helpless streetboy was killed by someone coward and ruthless who did not even bother to stop his car to help. Now it was alleged that Teddy was seen leaving the scene of the accident after causing it. True or not, what is wrong if he get questioned about it and if enough evidence is found to have him kept in jail? Are you suggesting the law that 70 million of our citizens are subject to does not and should not apply to him simply because you happen to love his music? Or are you saying that until we have a ‘trustworthy’ gov’t we should not prosecute criminals? If we did so can you imagine what the consequesnses would be to the country. I am just amazed to read the reaction on this trail that none -not one- was concerned about the poor guy who was killed. Where is our sense of justice? It would have made much sense if you guys were asking for the prosecution of the agents of the govt for justice to be prevailed. But no! you don’t care about justice. What you care is opposing anything the govt does. Then you wonder who is really motivated by politics? You or the Govt? From what I read, it is you. And for that shame on those of you who does not even bother to think about the murdered boy for one minute and ask that his “alleged” killer goes free because you happen not to agree with the govt.
April 23rd, 2008 at 5:46 pm
Shame to EMF for not monitoirng death wishing posts, like the dead poster tefera above.
April 23rd, 2008 at 6:07 pm
TS,
Your anger on some of us, commentators, would have been justified if and only if the following statements were TRUE:
1. There once lived a certain Degu Yibelte in Addis and got killed in 2006 with a car accident. (nobody can verify this)
2. There were credible witnesses (not an “anonnymus” taxi driver) who saw Teddy or his car leaving the scene of the alleged car accident at midnight.
I assure you that if these facts were known to be true no one would be unconfortable with Teddy being “questioned”. By the way he is more than being “questioned” if you have any clue about what is going on. friend.
Let me ask you a few questions.
Do you know what we do not know about the 2 statements I mentioned above?
Why would any person who alleges to have seen a horrible crime being commited, decide to be annonymus? what is there to fear from Teddy Afro? Why is this “annonymus taxi driver” afraid to tell what he saw in public? Don’t you think there is something fishy about it?
April 23rd, 2008 at 6:25 pm
Well,
This is not politics people. It is all about justice. Justice for the poor; justice for all. Teddy couldn’t prove himself that he didn’t kill the poor victim. “I didn’t do it” is not a way out from such type of crime. Had he stopped and took the victim to the hospital, the victim could have survived.
April 23rd, 2008 at 7:57 pm
I don’t know if Teddy is innocent or not, but I think it is a bit hypocritical for the Ethiopian government to pretend to care about a poor young boy who lost his life in an accident. Last time a checked it was the government that slaughtered innocent people; this is not to say that there should be no law to be obeyed……………just found it very contradictory /የማይመስል ነገር ለሚስትህ አትንገር አለ የሃገራችን ሰው/
April 23rd, 2008 at 8:16 pm
knowingly or unknowingly woyanes are making teddy afro a legend!! they are so dumb why arrest him and creat unarrest for themself, in fact it’s positive teddy’s arrest because the outcome is good for the people, they gonna start this movement without unloyal oppositions to take matters on there own hands, now the majority of ethiopias will fight for the seek of there freedom they don’t need disintegrating oppositions to handle the situations you will see soonly woyanes will regret why the went the wrong way, meaning unecessary of them arresting the national hero!!!
April 23rd, 2008 at 11:41 pm
AleQa Bru:
You ask a fair question. However, I am not sure what evidence you are looking for for the victim’s existence. I don’t know the answers to the questions you asked and that is what trials are for - to answer your’s and many more that the defense cuncil would ask. Let me ask you back. Do you know for a fact that he didn’t do it. My guess is no. So why not let the trial take place and both of us would find out. One who seeks justice would wait s for the govt to present their case and for the defense to ask both question that you raised. My understanding is that this is a public trial and the people would have the opportunity to see for themselves what evidence there might be. My anger is at the hypocracy of people who write on this trail that seem to think Teddy should not be put on trial because they have concluded that he is not guilty. Then you wonder if they are saying he is not guilty because he has a special right to kill and is immune from prosecution or because the evidence doesn’t support his guilt? If it is the later, it appears to me that they are worse than the govt they are accusing because they denied the poor fella justice before they even see or hear the evidence. So much for their sense of justice. All I am saying is that they need to chill out and wait to hear the case through a trial and then decide if he is guilty or not. Give the victim or his family a chance to get some justice.
April 24th, 2008 at 1:52 am
TS:
አሁን እያወራህ ያለሀው ስለፍትህ ነው አይደል: በመጀመሪያ መግደል አለመግደሉ ካልታወቀ ለምንድነ ውየሚታሰረው..የዋስ መብት ተጠብቆ ለምን ትሪያሉ አይቀጥልም..አየህ ፍትህ ለማስተማር እኮ አንተ ፍትህን እረግጠሃት አይደልም..ፈትህ ከራሱ ከመንግስጸየተጠሰ ስለፍትህ ልትሰብክ አትችልም..ማንም ሰው ጥፋቱ እካልተረጋገጠ ድረስ ቃሊቲ ወርዶ መሰቃየት የለበትም..ለነገሩ ግልጽ የሆነ የመንግስት የማጥቃት እርምጃ ነው ለኔ የሚታየኝኝ..ስለፍትህ ስታወራ እስኪ ለመሆኑ ስንት የተገደሉ ህትስኖችና ወጣቶች አልነበሩም እንዴ..የነሱ ህይወት ከዚህኛው በምንድነው የሚያንሰው..ፍትህ ለሁሉም እኩል ነች ካልን ለመንግስትም ፍትህ መስራት አለበት ማለት ነው:: እንደው ዝምብሎ ላሞኛችሁ ነገር አይሰራም..ስለዚህ አሁንም ቢሆን በቴዲ ላይ የሚሰራው አንዱ ይፈትህ ብልግና ነው..ማንም ከህግ በላይ አይደለም ስንል መንግስትም ከህግ በላይ መሆን የለበትም..ስለዚህ ቴዲ ያለፍትህ ስለታሰረ መለቀቅ አለበት እልሃለሁኝ..ፍትህ ካለ መብቱ ተጠብቖለት ጥፋተኛ መሆኑ ሲታወቅ ያነ መነጋገር ይቻላል..
April 24th, 2008 at 2:44 am
In the western world, you dont get arrested and taken to Jail if you kill someone by car accident. It was an accident, it was not a deliberate act. So Teddi Afro has pleaded not guilty and already paid to court so he should have been allowed to stay out of Prison and follow his case. So why is he arrested again? What we know is that nobody trusts the Weyane justice system. What we know is the Weyanes and Ala Mudin hate Teddi Afro. Trust me, this can happen to any one of us. Therfore, I dont advise anyone to travel to Ethiopia until we have a democratic government.
April 24th, 2008 at 3:14 am
Did we forget that the TPLF regime accused Kinijit Leaders with Genocide and false fabrications and threatend them with life in prison and death sentence? Ethiopians in Diaspora have forced the weyanes to get our leaders released! I still believe Ethiopians in Diaspora can play a big role in the ethiopian freedom movement. So if you believe in human and civil rights, BOYCOTT travel to Ethiopia Ethiopia gets a government which has respect for human and civil rights.
April 24th, 2008 at 3:16 am
CORRECTION:
Did we forget that the TPLF regime accused Kinijit Leaders with Genocide and false fabrications and threatend them with life in prison and death sentence? Ethiopians in Diaspora have forced the weyanes to get our leaders released! I still believe Ethiopians in Diaspora can play a big role in the ethiopian freedom movement. So if you believe in human and civil rights, BOYCOTT travel to Ethiopia UNTIL Ethiopia gets a government which has respect for human and Civil rights according to the written constitution.
April 24th, 2008 at 4:44 am
TS,
The way I see it, we know more about justice than you might think you know. For example read the wonderful comments from Fitber and the ones after him/her.
You are too simplistic to think that we do not care about the “poor victim” allegedly killed in an alleged traffic accident. To feel sorry about anyone, this someone must exist. How can you feel sorry about a character fabricated by TPLF just to increminate Teddy. TPLF created fictious crimes:
- to imprison professor Asrat Woldeyes (comfirmed by ex-TPLF official)
- to deport so many Eritreans and loot their property
- to imprison Siye Abraha using the infamous “Siye-law”
- to crackdown on serveral Opposition leaders and journalists, humanitarian activists
- to invade Somalia in exchange for military and financial support from US gov’t
- The LIST is to long to finish here.
With all this in mind how can you trust what TPLF tells you Teddy to have committed. And that just based on some tip from an annonymus taxi driver. Lets say this taxi-driver is not made up. According to the story, this driver is the only one to have seen the “crime” being committed. He[taxi drivers are mostly male in Ethiopia] even could see the plate of the car involved in the accident. He must have been very close to the accident. So close that he hiself can be a suspect unless he has some kind of “immunity” from suspicion.
Now for this “taxi driver” to be granted an immunity he must be a TPLF official himself probably Bereket Simon or Sibhat Nega. Or he does not exist in the first place. Which leads us to believe, based on known TPLF habitual misuse of the justice system, that Teddy is imprisoned without credible evidence and hence unjustly.
If you like to see and wait what the “court” will decide that is you choice. But most of us know already, that ALL people charged by TPLF are always found guilty as charged by the “court.” The result is known before hand. This is how the TPLF and its courts work, if you don’t know already:
TPLF charges without evidence –> Courts play the delay game–> Courts find you guilty as charged.
April 24th, 2008 at 8:28 am
THESE GANGSTERS FROM DEDEBIT NEXT VICTIM IS BEING THIS COURAGEOUS YOUNG ETHIOPIAN SOME WOYANNE CADRES IS HERE SAYING ABOUT JUSTICE WHICH JUSTICE ARE YOU TALKING ABOUTTHE JUSTICE MELESE PROSECUTER LEOUL JUDGE DEDEBIT KANGAROO COURT
THE MAIN PLAN IS TO CHANGE THE PEOPLES ATTENTION AFTER THE FAKE ELECTION
April 24th, 2008 at 8:55 am
Fiseha,
You said “In the western world, you don’t get arrested and taken to Jail if you kill someone by car accident. It was an accident; it was not a deliberate act. So Teddi Afro has pleaded not guilty and already paid to court so he should have been allowed to stay out of Prison and follow his case. So why is he arrested again?”
That is wrong. In the western world you don’t get arrested if you hit someone while you are driving, but you could get arrested if you were driving recklessly such as if you hit the victim passing red light or not stopping at the stop sign, or if you were driving under the influence of alcohol drug etc. Moreover, in the Western world you always get arrested if you hit and run particularly if there was a victim. This is what the problem is with Teddy. He was not supposed to drive away knowing the fact that he hit someone. The victim could have survived had Teddy stopped on time and took him to the hospital.
April 24th, 2008 at 9:56 am
People wake up!, this web site censorshiping articles selectively, do not waste your time here. Go to ‘Ethiopolitics’ where your voices will heard without censorship.
April 24th, 2008 at 11:56 am
ሕግን የፖሊቲካ ዱላ እና የዘጎች: ማስፈራራ:ያደረገ :የወያኔ አስተዳደር: መላው ጠፍተውበታል መስለኝ: የኢትዮዽያን ወጣቶች: ለማጥፋት:የተነሰ:: ሕግ አይከበር አይደለም የምለው: ግን አንድ ሰው የገደለ ሰው ለምን ለ 18 ወራት ሳይጠየቅ ቆየ?ዛረስ ለምን ዋስ ተከለከለ?ወያነ ሲፈልግ ሕግ ይከበራል: ከልፈለገ አይከበርም: የህገሪቱን ካዝና ገልባጥ ቱባ ቱባ ባለስልጣኖቹን ለምን ለህግ አያቀርብም?ነፍስ ገዳይ ፕሊሶቹን እና አጋዚን ለምን ለሕግ አልቀረቡም?
አንባቢ ሆይ; ወያኔ እና ቂሙ ለዘላለም የማይረሱ: ይቅር የማይሉ የዘመናችን የጥፋት መለእክተኞች ናቸው:: እኔን ከ3 አመት በህላ ነው ክሴን ደማምረው ለከርቻለ 3 አመት እስራት ያበቁኝ: (ጥቁር ቁራ አስሬ ቢታጣብ ነጥ ዳኪዬ አይሆንም) :ሽፍታ አስሬ መንግስት ቢሆን ጥላቸዉን አይረሳም:የደደቢት ፍሬ ያው: ደደብ ነው::የመርዛማ ዛፍ ፍሬ ምንጊዘም ያው መርዝ ነው:ቢበሰብሱም; ቢታደሱም ያ ነፍሰ ገዳይ ነው::
April 24th, 2008 at 12:00 pm
This tragedy is the source of our division. Today it is Teddy, and tomorrow everyone who speaks against tyrant regime, Woyanne. Until we learn to narrow our differences and stand together, Woyanne is determined to hunt each and everyone of its opponent one-by-one. We are divided, so we can’t even speak with one voice to save yequrt qen lij, such as Teddy Afro.
April 24th, 2008 at 12:24 pm
I like everybody’s argument regarding Teddy Afro.Let us continue the debate.ET_hager,instead of using the word “division” you could have used “difference of opinion”.It is OK to have a different opinion.As for Teddy why in the hell the Government cares to harm him ? He is not a threat to the govenment .Please do not give him the status of a freedom fighter.He is simply a good Singer.
April 24th, 2008 at 2:44 pm
I agree if he is pro Kinijit, and if he is an Amara he is automatically innocent.
April 24th, 2008 at 6:40 pm
just wanna say something if he killed some one his a crimnal he has to go to jail like every one else i think he does kill that poor gay he has to pay it back by going to prison.
April 24th, 2008 at 8:05 pm
Aleqa Bru:
Fitber’s assertion that no one should be jailed until he/she is proven guilty must be a refrence from some other planet. In this planet, there are crimes that make one eligible for bail and others that make him/her ineligible for bail. However, the curt have not even decided on the bail issue yet. I don’t think Fisseha has read what the charges are all together. You might want to stick with your own biased and misplaced argument. I say misplaced because you mix up political persecution and petty crime together. However, you make much more sense than the other two. If the premise of your argument is because the govt has been accusing and convicting its political oponents all criminals should go free, then you and I have don’t have much to talk about. In any society legal systems can be challenged by many groups. The unproportional balck prison population in the USA can be cited as an example. The point is no matter how bad the legal system is, it is irresponsible, if not ignorant, to argue that petty criminals should be allowed of killing and robbing innocent people. That is what makes us human beings as opposed to wild animals. In pursuit of perfection in the legal system you seem to want to destroy it. Mind you, I am not saying that Teddy is guilty. But before my concern for him, I would want to make sure that the poor boy and his family get some justince. If the govt is falsely accusing him then I will stand by you to ask for those agents to stand trial. In the mean time let us be patient and let the legal system work however imperfect it might be.
April 25th, 2008 at 8:27 am
TS,
“If the govt is falsely accusing him then I will stand by you to ask for those agents to stand trial. ”
I will hold you to that.
But I am just wondering when and how you will it be clear to you whether the gov’t is falsely accusing Teddy? Obviously the process does not seem to matter to you.
And just one other thing, you said these two things in your above comment which seem to me contradicting.
1. “In this planet, there are crimes that make one eligible for bail and others that make him/her ineligible for bail.” So you hold the thought that Teddy’s alleged crime is such that he is NOT eligible for bail.
2. ” You might want to stick with your own biased and misplaced argument. I say misplaced because you mix up political persecution and petty crime together.” Here you hold the thought that Teddy’s crime is petty. I don’t know how you could classify the same alleged crime in two totally different scales at the same time. I am not even sure if a murder charge can be classified as “petty crime”?
By the way, just because you are not charged with “political charges”, does not mean that the charge itself is motivated by political considerations.
April 25th, 2008 at 10:12 am
AleQa Bru:
As I have mentioned many times my beef is not agianst Teddy but those who suggest that he should go free without even being questioned. If it is determined or there is a reasonable evidence that the gov’t agents killed the boy and blame Teddy, you will hear me much more loudly asking for thier prosecution as well and you can count on me for that. As far as the statements you quoted above, no where have I said that he is not elligible for bail. He was jailed until the court determines whether or not he is eligible for bail. That is not yet decided. People on this forum including you are screaming even before the bail hearing is concluded. My statement was intended to show how stupid Fitber’s assertion was that no one gets jailed before conviction. On the second point, I am not going to argue with you about word definitions but the intent of my use of ”petty crime’ is to suggest anything that is not political. It was meant to be a general reference not specific to Teddy. If in fact Teddy did do this, I agree with you it would amount to much more than petty.
April 25th, 2008 at 10:48 am
I wonder what kind of discussion you people talking about while you are censoring oppinion that are diffrent than yours. I am not worried about my comment not being posted, however it bothers me to learn that you are supressing the right of people expressing their oppinion. Shame on you
April 25th, 2008 at 10:48 am
TS,
You said: ” He was jailed until the court determines whether or not he is eligible for bail. That is not yet decided.”
That’s exactly what pisses me off. This case is 2 years old. How in hell can it be that the charges are not completed? It did not take the “court” this much time to formulate the much severe and complicated charges of genocide and high treason on CUD leaders and others. Like you said Teddy’s case is much lesser than for example the CUD leader’s case.
Don’t you see their tactic? Delay, delay then postpone, postpone, then delay after delay and postponment after postponmnet. By that time he will have served “his time” just like Siye Abraha. The “court” might even find him “not guilty” after 5 years of imprisonment.
April 25th, 2008 at 1:59 pm
At least we are getting somewhere. If that is the basis of your argument I totally agree with you and I also abhore the delay tactics used by the govt. If that was your point from the get go we would not have gotten into the argument. I see your point and concern for the process but at the same time we can not always assume that there is no criminal in Ethiopia that deserves punishment as long as eprdf is in power. If Teddy did this as alleged, he should be punished and he should be no exception but at the same time we should ask for a speedy investigation and trial not just for him but also for the population at large. I hope you see my point now as I see yours. In any event I enjoy the civil conversation with you.
April 25th, 2008 at 4:55 pm
TS,
I am glad that you saw my point. That was my basis of arguement all along. I believe also that is the basis of the arguements of many of the commentators eventhough they may not have explained it as much as I did. I do not think there is anybody insane enough to wish Teddy or anyone else not to be punished for his crimes if infact he committed them. That would be stupid. What we are saying is that Teddy is most probably accused of bogus charges, like so many before him, for politically motivated reasons.
Yes Teddy is not a politician but it is public knowlege that his songs are critical of TPLF/EPRDF. In his song “Yasteserial” for example he equates Meles (not by name) to a new king (as oppossed to a democratic leader).
In another song (” Dahlak “) he sings about two lovers separated due to the deportation of Eritreans from Addis (1998-2000 ???). But also he sings praising Haile Selassie and in favor of Ethiopian unity both of which are not in line with TPLF/EPRDF’s ethnic politics.
In anyway I enjoyed the discussion as well and I know you mean well and I understand your reasoning. But I like you also to understand the frustration of others in light of what I explained above.
April 26th, 2008 at 10:25 am
No one trust woyane what ever they do !!!
Because they already borke the law nothing happened to them
Because the law is used as political tool to kill opponents.
Because they control the police and judges then they can do what ever they want.
Because they can be above the law etc….
They killed Prof. Aserat and many Ethiopia Heros by the name of the LAW
They killed inocent student in the university no one brought to justice etc…
They killed thausands of incent Ethiopians on broad day light No on brought to face justice ……..etc
Then one can coclude easly Tedy is a victm of all the above becuse of he preches Ethiopian Unity and aginst wyane ethinc devisive politics.
If there is no JUstice for all. No one has the moral graound to talk about law. This just pure politics.
Free Teddy Afro Now !!!!!
April 28th, 2008 at 2:40 am
What really worries me is not teddy being questioned.But what ever happen to the rule of low that EPRDF is preaching. This guy deserves to bail until he is found guilty.We never know, he might be telling us the truth so why would should he spend one day of his life in jail for a crime that he hasn’t committed.
Please, those who give comment on this site should not judge before the fact is known. I don’t think anybody should have any problem in him being questioned, the problem that we all should adress,should be the process and the reliablity of the court system that we have in our country.
April 30th, 2008 at 2:25 am
Ethiopians in Diaspora have forced the weyanes to get our leaders released!
Was it the diaspora that forced the Ethiopian government to allow Kinijit as opposition party?
“Tigre wede Mekele Nbretu wede Kebele” - is this not genocidal?
April 30th, 2008 at 2:26 am
Ethiopians in Diaspora have forced the weyanes to get our leaders released!
Was it the diaspora that forced the Ethiopian government to allow Kinijit as opposition party?
“Tigre wede Mekele Nbretu wede Kebele” - is this not genocidal?
May 4th, 2008 at 12:08 pm
hmmm I think this is the worst goverment we have ever had just kidding
they didn’t kill the emperor anyway did Teddy commit this crime ??
They charged him with Drive with out a license - He can just give them his license
Reckless driving heresy Teddy’s word against the ‘witness’.
Hit and run physical evidence must be found to coraborate if their isn;t any because the goverment waited so long well…
For all the people protesting and marching bloging don’t waste yout time thats not things are done in Ethiopia acutually in most of africa.
If you have a serious agenda to promote you must fight for let say for a minimum of seventeen years and by fight i mean fight