ETHIOPIA: PROSECUTION STRUGGLING TO MAKE A FOCUSED

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 ADDIS ABABA 001645

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR AF DAS YAMAMOTO AND AF/E
LONDON, PARIS, ROME FOR AFRICA WATCHER

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/13/2016
TAGS: PHUM PREL PGOV ET
SUBJECT: ETHIOPIA: PROSECUTION STRUGGLING TO MAKE A FOCUSED
CASE IN OPPOSITION TRIAL

REF: ADDIS ABABA 1539

Classified By: Charge Vicki Huddleston for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).


1. (C) SUMMARY: The prosecution is wrapping up the video
phase of evidence in its case against detained opposition
Coalition for Unity and Democracy (CUD) leaders, independent
journalists and civil society representatives. Following the
demonstration of lively internal debates among CUD leadership
regarding the decision to not enter parliament (reftel),the
prosecution moved on to show the CUD party leadership testing
public opinion for such a move during crowded and animated
public rallies in August 2005. Though supporters appeared to
be fully behind the party leadership, the CUD asked for
restraint and for followers to remain peaceful. In an
attempt to demonstrate cause and effect, the prosecution then
presented police recordings of the protests and riots of June
and November 2005 in Addis Ababa. Though no defendant
appeared in the riot tapes, these videos were intended to
portray the effects of CUD instigation. There has been no
evidence presented to date that shows the CUD calling for
such violent upheaval ) only peaceful stay at home strikes.
Prosecutors announced their intention June 12 to withdraw
seven of 24 cassettes in response to the request by the court
to focus on relevant material. This suggests the approaching
witness presentation portion of the trial will be critical
for the prosecution's case. END SUMMARY.

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DEFENDANTS ADDRESS HEALTH MATTERS
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2. (U) Defendants present in court continue to appear healthy
and in good spirits. However, several defendants have missed
court appearances due to health related issues in the last
two weeks. Notably, Maj. Getachew Mengiste asked for and was
granted permission by the judge to miss several days as he
was required to have surgery for what he described as a life
threatening illness. Pregnant journalist Serkalem Fassil is
reportedly in the hospital for delivery of her baby. A few
others have been out of court hearings for unknown health
related reasons. During the last two weeks, there seems to
have been an informal loosening of the rules prohibiting
defendants from speaking with the public. As long as
conversations are kept short and discreet, defendants have
been permitted to share verbal exchanges with friends and
family.


3. (U) International observers continue to attend all
sessions. In addition to USG rep, the European Union and
United Nations have representatives present every day, as
well as a rotation of representatives from various European
embassies. In addition, a Lawyers Without Borders (LWOB)
representative from the US has arrived and is attending the
trial with a local LWOB attorney.

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THE PRESS IS GIVEN SOME FREEDOM
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4. (C) On June 2, defendant and former CUD party Vice
Chairperson Bertukan Medeksa raised the issue of press
coverage of the trial with the judges. She complained that
the local press coverage has been incomplete, simply stating
the charges put forth by the prosecution and not reporting on
the evidence presented in court. She asked the judge to
intervene with state media to alter its reporting methods.
Though the prosecution objected, the court overruled them and
instructed the Ethiopian Television (ET) and print
journalists in the courtroom that they must report a more
well-rounded view of the day's proceedings, including what
evidence is presented. (NOTE: Lead prosecutor Shimelis Kemal
maintains the title of General Manager of the GoE agency that
licenses private broadcast stations ) which was his
full-time occupation prior to assuming the prosecutor role in
this case.) The judge qualified this by ordering that media
not express criticism or judgments in their reporting. The
ET reporter present in court later revealed to Poloff that
such a ruling in a political trial is very unusual and the
extent of reporting on such trials is usually very restricted.

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PROSECUTION NARROWING THE EVIDENCE
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5. (C) As described in reftel, prosecutors continue their
presentation of the evidence by outlining those defendants
involved in the day's evidence and the charges that it
supports. Much of this involves highlighting statements made
by the defendants in the videos. However, increasingly the
prosecutor is using quotes that appear to Poloff and other
international observers to be drawn out of context in order
to support the prosecution. This tactic is undermined when
the court later hears the context of the entire video and how
these comments do not seem to sustain the prosecution's
arguments.


6. (C) There has been an increasing sense in the last two
weeks that the bench is seeking to better focus the evidence
presented. In addition to the visual cues the judges have
been demonstrating - being inattentive to the videos shown
and seeming often uninterested or bored ) the prosecutor has
been asked on a few occasions if future videos or portions of
videos are relevant. This culmination of this trend was the
prosecution's request to the court to withdrawn 7 of the 24
videos originally submitted on the evidence roster. This
would reduce the remaining videos from 9 to 2, following
which the prosecution will move onto the audiocassette
portion of the evidence. Though the defense had previously
objected to shortening the video phase of evidence, they did
not protest.

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CUD PLAYS TO THE CROWD
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7. (U) Video evidence presented May 29 ) June 1 featured
public rallies held by the CUD in various parts of Addis
Ababa in August 2005. Despite the fact that only a few
defendants appeared on these tapes, the prosecutor presented
this as evidence against all of the 39 defendants who are CUD
members. Prosecutors indicated that this evidence was not to
be used against the civil society representatives or
journalists.


8. (U) The crowds that gathered for the rallies shown in
these videos were very large, numbering in the thousands. As
the crowds were large and the video shot from a distance, it
was not actually possible to see the defendants clearly,
though their voices were identified. The overall purpose of
this rally seemed to be to build public support for the CUD's
idea of not joining parliament. Speakers repeatedly queried
the crowd if they have their support (e.g. "Does joining the
parliament just give the EPRDF government legitimacy?" )
yes; "Does joining imply acceptance of election results?" )
yes; "Is it more useful to join the parliament and struggle?"
) no). Most of the speeches by the CUD representatives
contained the standard party rhetoric heard around the period
of these videos: votes in the May 2005 election were stolen
from them and that the peaceful struggle against this
injustice must continue. During the course of the speeches
given, the crowds repeatedly interrupted with singing
(patriotic and religious songs),chanting and cheering. In
general the crowds were very jubilant and responsive to the
speakers, but the videos showed basically peaceful events.

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RECALLING THE RIOTS OF 2005
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9. (U) The videos presented as evidence on June 2 and 8
contained footage taken by federal police of the riots that
took place in Addis Ababa in June and November of 2005,
respectively. While the tape of the June protests had a good
deal of footage of protesting students at universities and
colleges, a burning police vehicle and many city buses with
broken out windows, there was very limited conflict between
federal police and protesters. The video of the November
riots, by contrast, showed several clashes between rock
throwing youth and the anti-riot brigades of the federal
police. Apart from a few clips of police attacking rioters,
most of the footage was of crowds of rioters advancing on
groups of police officers in riot gear. This footage was
interspersed with interviews with police officers injured
during the rioting. Some interviews were with police on the
street with small abrasions on the head or arms, while others
were with members of the police force hospitalized from their
injuries. As in the June footage, the November recordings
showed a great deal of damage to public property, including
buses, buildings, and police cars.

ADDIS ABAB 00001645 003 OF 003




10. (C) In his presentation of these videos, the prosecutor
claimed that these tapes were evidence against all
defendants, including the civil society members and
journalists. The defense for the Action Aid representatives
objected to this, saying his clients had nothing to do with
these events, but the judge allowed it. The prosecutor
claimed that the videos demonstrated that the CUD was
unlawfully "instigating the public" and "called on the public
to stand up against government forces." Despite the shock
value, the tapes did little to directly implicate the CUD or
other defendants in the violence. In fact, the only instance
in which a CUD member appeared in these videos was a brief
clip of Dr. Hailu Araya speaking for a few minutes with two
young men outside the walls of Addis Ababa University during
the June protests. Though there was no audio, he was not
visibly urging the protesters on and did not address the
crowd.

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COMMENT: STILL WAITING TO SEE THE EFFECT OF THE CAUSE
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11. (C) As the trial now approaches the end of the video
phase of evidence, it becomes increasingly apparent that the
bench is exhausted by the many hours of tape shown in court.
The judges and the prosecution continue to listen to the
English translation during much of the presentation of
videos, apparently to monitor what it is that the
international community is hearing. To date, the prosecution
has clearly demonstrated to the international community that
the CUD party was unwilling to accept the results of the May
2005 election. They have also shown the damaging results of
the June and November protests (to government personnel and
property). However, it remains unclear, according to the
international observers attending the trial, how the
prosecution plan to connect point A to point B. In other
words, though we have seen unquestionable evidence that the
CUD party leaders were unhappy about the election and had
strong backing from their constituents, we have not yet seen
any deviation from the stated theme of the CUD's call for
"peaceful struggle." The burden will fall on audiocassettes,
written documents and witness testimony to link the
defendants more persuasively with the charges they face.

HUDDLESTON