Andargachew on DW Amharic
Dr. Berhanu on VOA Amharic | BBC | Addisdimts
By Peter Heinlein (27-04-2009)- Relatives of two prominent exiled Ethiopian politicians are among 35 people jailed in connection with an alleged plot to overthrow Prime Minister Meles Zenawi’s government. VOA’s Peter Heinlein reports Ethiopians shocked by news of the arrests are scrambling to learn the identities of the accused plotters and details of their alleged crimes.Ethiopian officials Monday said they had nothing to add to a statement issued Saturday announcing the arrest of 35 alleged members of Ginbot Seven, an opposition group based outside the country.Ginbot Seven, or May 15th , is the date of Ethiopia’s disputed 2005 election. The group’s leader, Berhanu Nega, is a charismatic politician who was elected mayor of Addis Ababa in that election. He was arrested afterward, convicted of treason, and sentenced to life in prison along with more than 100 other opposition leaders. All were later pardoned.Berhanu now lives in the United States, where he is an economics professor at Bucknell University in Pennsylvania.Saturday’s government statement said security forces had foiled a terror network formed by Berhanu to wage armed struggle against the government. Spokesman Ermias Legesse said a search of suspects’ homes had revealed a cache of weapons, military uniforms and a plan of attack.In a telephone interview Monday, Berhanu confirmed that Ginbot Seven’s aim is to overthrow the government by any means possible.
“Our position is very clear from the beginning,” said Berhanu. “This is an illegal government. This government is in power by coup de etat in 2005. This govern has usurped power by force and therefore any mechanism to get rid of an illegitimate tyranny is legitimate as far as we are concerned.”
Ethiopian media said those arrested included an active duty army general, Teferra Mamo said to be leader of Ginbot Seven’s military wing. The only other suspect identified was Melaku Tefera, an organizer for the opposition Unity for Democracy and Justice party. He was identified as the head of Ginbot Seven’s civilian wing.
Melaku was among the opposition leaders convicted of treason and later pardoned following the 2005 election. He now joins UDJ leader Birtukan Mideksa, who was re-arrested earlier this year and ordered to serve out her life sentence.
Berhanu Nega said Monday he had been told that the accused included a cousin of his living in Addis Ababa, and the 80-year old father of Tsige Andargachew, an exiled Ginbot Seven official living in Britain. Berhanu told VOA security forces had surrounded his parents Addis Ababa home and confiscated their cellphones.
“This is a government that accuses your relatives for what you do,” he said. “Whatever it is that you do. That is why Ato (Mr.) Tsige Andargachew’s father is in pris on. Maybe my cousin is in prison for the same reason.”
Several Ethiopian opposition figures Monday expressed concern over the arrests. Member of Parliament Bulcha Demeksa agreed that Ginbot Seven would be considered an illegal organization under Ethiopian law. But he expressed skepticism about the reports of a coup plot.
“I honestly believe this is not true,” Bulcha said. “The government of Ethiopia has used such accusations so many times to make it a reason to arrest people.. The election approaching. Anybody who could be a viable candidate for an opposition party will be caught by this net.”
A government spokesman Monday said he was busy in meetings and could not confirm reports of the arrest of Berhanu Nega’s cousin and Andargachew Tsige’s father, or that Berhanu’s parents’s cellphones had been confiscated.
The spokesman told VOA further details of the arrests and the coup plot would be forthcoming in the next few days. He declined to speculate on what charges might be filed against those detained, but said the suspects would soon be brought before a judge to hear the charges read.
April 27th, 2009 at 7:46 pm
Meles is on frustration and he will take all action that deem feel important.The arrest of the father and the cousin is message to diaspora that meles would go to this extent.We must be hand in hand and confront dictator.we should mobilze our resources to support Ginbot 7.We must open global television net work Ginbot7 to the people of ethiopians living in Africa,Ethiopia and the world.Wake up and move quickly to make an end to the dictator.The war is started with Unity over division,Ethiopianism over tribalism .Victory to Ginbot 7.
April 27th, 2009 at 7:57 pm
Now I will become a member of G7!! When the going gets tough, the tough gets going! Go G7!!
April 27th, 2009 at 8:40 pm
Good said dr berhanu.
April 27th, 2009 at 9:11 pm
DR BERHANU & ANDARGACHEW
YOU ARE MY HERO YOU ARE TRUE ETHIOPIAN
YOU SCARED THE LIVIGN HELL OUT OF TPLF MAFIAR
ENDIH NEW ETHIOPIAWINET
ENDIH NEW TEGEL MALET
WE ARE WTIH ALL THE WAY ………… UNTIL TPOLF IS GOINE
April 27th, 2009 at 10:48 pm
የታወቀ ነው::በርጋጋው መለስ ሃሰታዊ ማለቂያ የሌለውን የፈጠራ ክስ ከዚህ በፊቱ እንዳደረገው እያካሄደ ነው:: ያዝነው ያሉት መሳሪያ በ E T V ዓይቼዋለሁኝ ::በጠቅላላ ወያኔ አዲስ አበባ ይዞት የገባው ነው::መለስ የ 21ኛው ክ/ዘመን ውሸታም እና ድንጉጥ:: ግንቦት 7 ለኒው ጀኔሬሽን… የ 80 አመት አዛውንት :እንዲሁም ሴትን ጨምሮ የሚያስር :ጭንቅላቱ ከክፍለ ዘመኑ ጋር የማይሄድ ፈሪ:: በ 99 ወታደር ተከቦ ብቻ ምላስ ማሞጥሞጥ :: ሽል::ትግራይ እንዳንተ አይነቱን ታፍራ አሁን:: ሽንታም::
April 28th, 2009 at 12:44 am
SOUNDS MORE LIKE CONFESSION FROM MR. BERHANU
In his own statement Mr. Berhanu said “The Ethiopian government is illegal”,
Could this be why Mr. Berhanu decided to overthrow the Ethiopians government through coup d`eta ?
April 28th, 2009 at 12:55 am
Is it sth to be proud of?
Dr. Berhanu seems so. I wonder when people are arrested in cold blood and being tortured before even they fire one bullet if it is sth to boast about it.
To me it is very unfortunate and we need to cry and show sympathy for yet another unfortunate citizens. They may be a victim of poor security protection or sophisticated penetration of the Meles regime’s security organ.
If there are others still floating around, I suggest you better die doing something. That way your name may be included in the history of Ethiopia, not just when you are caught asleep, though Berhanu seems to applaud even that. You also may be running out of time!
April 28th, 2009 at 1:20 am
Woyane should not lead the country by force!!!
This is 21st century.
Abusing intellectuals relative is not the solution!!!
Freedom, Democracy and Human Rights is right of the people.
God Bless Ethiopia !!!
April 28th, 2009 at 2:22 am
Yeleyal yeleyal yeleyal zendro
yeweyane noro…….ahhaahaa ayzosh hagere
April 28th, 2009 at 3:24 am
እኔ እንደሚመስለኝ: ወያኔዎች ስለፈሩ ከወዲሁ የግንቦት 7 ደጋፊ ወይም ተባባሪ ይሆናሉ ተብለው የተገመቱ ሰዎችን ማሰርና ማስፈራራት የፈለጉ ይመስለኛል:: ትክክል ሆነ አልሆነ ለወያኔ ግድ የለውም:: እነዚህ እኮ ምንም ዓይነት ስብዕና ያልፈጠረባቸው: ጫካ ከመኖር ብዛት ሰውነታቸውን አጥተው ወደ አውሬነት የተለወጡ ናቸው:: የሚገርመው የሙዚቃውን ንጉስ ሞት አስታከው የዚህ ዓይነት ኦፕሬሽን ማቀዳጀው ምን ያህል የዘቀጡ አውሬዎች እንደሆኑ ያሳያል::
ዶ/ር ብርሃኑ እንዳለው: በዚህ ዙር የታሰሩት የወታደር አባላት የአማራ ተወላጅ የተባሉ ናቸው:: ትንሽ ቆይቶ ደግሞ ኦሮሞዎች ይቀጥላሉ:: ሰነፍና አንቅልፋም ድሮም መጨረሻው ይኅው ነው:: የዝንብ መጫወቻ ይሆናል::
April 28th, 2009 at 3:28 am
zeanwi is so paranoid and he don’t even no what he is doing.
This is a great job and we must support the Genbot 7 movement.
April 28th, 2009 at 4:28 am
I was caught by surprise when woyane announce the fending of a potential coup perpeterated G7. This announcement a phoney propoganda. If there is anyone out there who believes that woyane can be removed from power with a 35 men coup, he must be crazy. Even if the announcement is true how come woyane manage to capture all the perpeteraters overnight?? and why only 35 people?? The number is simply to small to rectify woyane’s claim.
However i have a strong feeling that this announcement is part of a well orchasterated strategy designed by Meles and his stooges to discourage the growing base of G7 supporters by painting the organization as weak, feeble, easil peneterable etc etc. Another motive could be to create an execuse to silence the growing political dissent at home by jailing people percieved as “dangerous”. We all know G7 isnt fool enough to try to launch a military assult on woyane with just 35 men! If anything, this annoucement is a proof to the deteriorating mental sate that the woyanes are finding themselves in. These ppl are hugely terrified to the point that they cant even trust their shadows.
The bottomline is that woyane is the only government in the world where lieing and deciet are formally enshirined as core values of its governance system. Anything that is coming out of the woyane camp is full of lies, deciet, mischief etc etc. These lie factory must be destoyed and so this is the time to reaffirm our unwavering committement to G7 movement and extend our hands to support G7 for the INEVITABLE REAL COUP!
Ethiopia shall be free!
God bless G7
April 28th, 2009 at 4:35 am
የሰማኒያ ዓመት ሽማግሌ ማሰር ምን ማለት ነው:: የወያኔ መንግስት በደነገጠ ቁጥር የሚሰራውንም አያውቅም:: ይህ ለግንቦት 20 ጥሩ ፐፕሊሲቲ ነው:: የዶክተር ብርሀኑ መልስ አስደስቶኛል:: ይህ የሽፍቶች ህግ ወጥ መንግስት በምንም መወገድ አለበት::የጊዜ ጉዳይ ነው እንጂ መለስና ሆዳም ግብራበሮቹ እጃቸውን ተይዘው ለፍርድ መቅረባቸው አያቀርም::
April 28th, 2009 at 4:54 am
The tigray-woyane mafias are playing their phoney propoganda cards as usual. First they want to depict G7 as a “terrorist organization” to western countries (pls see how how allahmudinfirst website photo chopped Dr Birhanu’s photo). In their dull mind, they thought that such fabricated lies will help them to unseat the committed G7 leaders bsed mainly in the US and the UK who have become a source of continous irritation to the woyanes. We might soon here woyane cadres urging the US and UK governements to hand over the G7 leaders all by labelling them as “wanted terrorists”.
Second woyane wants to show to ethiopians at home and abroad how much feeble, weak and easily peneterable the G7 network is and in the process try to slow down the growing momuntum that G7 is gaining both abroad and at home.
Therefore it is time to fend off this phoney propoganda by not falling prey to woyane’s common lie and deciet. In stead we need to reaffirm our committement to G7 by contributing to the “arbegnenet tiri” campaign and in every possible way we can.
Ethiopia shall be free
Thank you
April 28th, 2009 at 5:20 am
Its’ now high time that the fractured opposition in Diaspora get together for all things are getting against Woyane. Dr Berhanu and Ato Andargachew Tsige are able and ambitious individuals. They have also done a perceptible thing that made the Woyane uncomfortable: Ginbot radio and its weekly publication are concrete. They can maximize their effort by promoting an amicable politics n Diaspora. One thing they could do is to use their influence upon their supporters to stop from propagating the politics of hate toward those who are working under woyane. Some apparently strange supporters such as Green-Yellow-Red are spouting venom at opposition leaders in those pal talks where Dr Berhanu and Andagachew are very popular.
Bertu,
Deffo Merqqa
DeffoM@yahoo.com
April 28th, 2009 at 8:22 am
ወያኔዎች በደነገጡ ቁጥር የፈጠራ ነክ ወሬያቸውንና በጅምላ ማሰር ልማዳቸው ነው::
ይህ ሁሉ የሚያሳየው: የጨካኝና በብሔር ከፋፍለህ ግዛና የ66 ማገብት ማኒፈስቶ(ትግራይ ሪፓብሊክ) አላማ ለማሳካት ያቀዱትን ለመተግበር ነበር የሚፍጨረጨሩት::
የኢትዮጵያ ህዝብ ግን አንድ ሃገር አንድ ህዝብ ብሎ ተነስቷልና: ትግሉ ይቀጥላል::
April 28th, 2009 at 8:51 am
(1) Andargachew who crafted Article 39 in the current TPLF constitution will see to it that it is practiced by Ogadenia, Oromia and Gambela. That was what he promised to Afeworki while in Asmara. That is what Berhanu Nega, Elias Kifle, Ethiopian Review and abugida Info are standing for. Why? Because they beleive the TPLF has not fulfilled its initial promise to free nationalities.
(2) Ginbot-7 shall fight any that stands against Article 39. No matter what it may cost.
April 28th, 2009 at 8:54 am
This is just a beginning, Meles have not seen all yet. I am hoping that the person who performs the next step in the procedure will take away for good Meles’ most favorate family members so that he can feel the agony like majority of Ethiopian feeling it right now.
Power to the people!!!
April 28th, 2009 at 9:26 am
WELL AYALKEBET WOYANNE ON ANOTHER MISSION ?THEY ARE EVEN OUT OF LIES THEY USED ALL IN THE LAST 18 YEARS THE SKY SCRAPPER TYPE LIES WHICH STARTS IN THEIR DEDEBIT TIME IS NOW IN COLLAPSING THAT IS WHY I ALWAYS ASK WHAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN AFTER WOYANNE ?IN THE LAST 18 YEARS WOYANNE HAD MAKE TO MUCH HARM ONLY FOR THE SAKE OF SELF EXISTENCE BY JUST TRYING TO SHOW TIGREY AS THEIR STRONG HOLD AND DESRUCTING ETHIOPIA AS POSSIBLE AS THEY CAN CULTURALLY ITS ETHNIC DIVISION BASED ON LANGUAGE AND SO ON AND SO ON IT IS TIME FOR EACH AND EVERY ETHIOPIAN TO THROW A STONE ON THE HEAD OF THE WOYANNES AND I DID NOT THINK IT IS TOO MUCH (IF YOU ARE ETHIOPIAN NATIONAL)
April 28th, 2009 at 11:45 am
Dear all,
Some people say that Berhanu and Andargachew are Shaabia puppets.
So what? What is wrong with that? As comarades in arms with Shaabia and fighting against the common enemy known as TPLF, Ginbot-7 is ready to do everything including what may surprise and shock you. What if you know now that Ginbot-7 is part of the CIA-agents for as long as we free horn africa free from the zionist Amhara-Tigre clicks and send them home to where they originally belong - Israel.
Do you think you can stop the political Sunami coming from Ogadenia, Oromia and Gambela with bare hands and war of words? That is futile. Time will tell. Go G-7 go finish the Tigre-Amhara clicks once and for all.
April 29th, 2009 at 9:42 am
I can not join GINBOT 7, since 96% of Ginbot7`s top leadership dominated by single minority tribe (Amhar tribe only). ON order to defeat woyane, what we need in is opposition political party that is based of rational thibnking not ethnicity domination.
April 29th, 2009 at 6:49 pm
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April 30th, 2009 at 11:25 pm
Debella! You do not need to look into the composition of the Ginbot 7, but look into their agenda for armed struggle into whether they carry the national agenda or ethnic agenda and or/align itself with those with ethnic agenda. If you look at your ethnicity ahead of Ethiopiawinet, you rather join them. I advise you not to be turned off because they are predominantely Amhara, when they are not. If they are Amaharas are ubiquitous and resouceful and put their Ethiopiawinet ahead of their Ethnicity, but in these case they are not. It is like the cliche, tell me who your friends are , then I will tell you who youre. To that effect there is no Amahara party other than the teletafi party. What you have to look into their agenda/goals and how they achieve those goals. In addition look into the comments made by some of us and do your analysis, just being phobic of Amahara dominance as an infection spearheaded by EPLF and TPLF does not take you any where.
May 1st, 2009 at 1:25 am
Mr. aha!
Do not foget that leadership does not start at the end but at the begining.
GINBOT 7 should of know the political socio composition,history and sociopolitical conditions of the country by now but they do not. Had GINBOT7 known and cosidered these above facts of the country they would of diversify their leadership posts from every tribe instead of totally dominated by amhara tribe only. Remember, Amhara does not mean Ethioipa, amahara is just another minority tribe among many Ethiopian tribes, thus inclusivity of political platform as well inclusivity and diversfication of leadership is a key creat confidence of trust and to the socio psychology of the country.
May 1st, 2009 at 6:31 pm
አንዳንዴ አስተያየት ስጽፍ ሁል ጊዜ አንዳንዶቻችሁ ስላልበሰላችሁ ይመስለኛል የቃላት ዉርጅብኝ ማዉረድ ደስ ይላችኋል የዚህ ደጋፊ የዛ ደጋፊ እያላችሁ ሰዉን ለማዋክብ አትሞከሩ :: መለሰ ዜናዊ በየጊዜዉ በሚሰራዉ ቲያትር እየታለላችሁ ዋናዉን ነገር ረስታችሁታል:: ይህ መድረከ ደግሞ የሁሉም ይመስለኛል : አሁን ታሰሩ የሚባለዉ ነገር ኢሃደግ የታረክ ክስረት እየደረሰበት በመሆኑ የመጣ ነገር ነው:: ራሱ መንግስት ያስቀመጠዉ ደባ ሊሆን ይችላል ብዮ እገምታለሁ: እዉነትም የትግራይን ሪፐብሊክ ሊመሰርት ቢታገልም ( እባብ ልቡን አይቶ እንደሚባለዉ) ሆኖበታል :: ለዚሁም ለኢሳያስ አፈወርቂ ክሬዲት እሰጠዋለዉ;; አሜሪካኖች ብዙ ጊዜ የተሽነፈ አይወዱም ይባላልና : መለሰም ማጠፊያዉ እያጠረ ክሄደ አንድ ሁለት ሚልዮን አስታቅፈው ቻይና ሊልኩት ይችላሉ :: ከእግዚአብሄር በታች ኢትዮጵያ ያላት የኢትዮጵያ ህዝብና የአሜሪካ ፓሊሲ መቀየር ብቻ ይመስለኛል ::
May 1st, 2009 at 9:41 pm
EMF web master, if u cant moderate the postings, u should just be like the other sites, like ethiomedia and aiga forum,…. dont let these tplf throw up here please, thanks
May 24th, 2009 at 11:52 am
Спасибо!!! На Вашем сайте часто появляются очень интересные мысли! Очень поднимаете мой настрой.
June 9th, 2009 at 3:28 pm
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