JUDGE ENTERS "NOT GUILTY" PLEA FOR SILENT

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ADDIS ABABA 000667

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR AF DAS YAMAMOTO, AF/E, AND AF/PD:S.WESTGATE
DRL FOR K.GILBRIDE
LONDON, PARIS, ROME FOR AFRICA WATCHER

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PHUM KDEM KJUS ET
SUBJECT: JUDGE ENTERS "NOT GUILTY" PLEA FOR SILENT
ETHIOPIAN OPPOSITION LEADERS

REF: A. ADDIS ABABA 49

B. 05 ADDIS ABABA 4202


1. (U) SUMMARY: Four months after their arrest, nearly 90
Ethiopian opposition leaders, rank-and-file supporters,
independent journalists, and NGO representatives remain in
detention, awaiting prosecution on capital charges ranging
from "outrages against the constitution" to high treason and
genocide. Government prosecutors have given some defendants
a list of evidence to be presented against them (comprising
alleged internal party documents, medical certificates, press
clippings, and both audio and video cassettes of meetings),
but have yet to present any evidence formally in court. The
defendants most recently appeared in court as a group on
February 23, just days after lead defendant Hailu Shawel
underwent emergency eye surgery. Asked to enter pleas, most
defendants chose to remain silent rather than acknowledge the
charges against them. The presiding judge refused to allow
Hailu Shawel and other detained CUD opposition leaders to
make what he considered to be political statements in court.
On March 1, the High Court rejected a defense motion to have
three detained representatives of civil society NGOs tried
separately from CUD party leaders, arguing that separate
trials would create difficulties for witnesses. Sources
confirm that some detained CUD party leaders have been
categorized as "criminally dangerous" and placed in detention
with common criminals; mayor-elect Berhanu Nega complained in
court that he now shares quarters with 300 other "dangerous"
inmates. The next court appearance is scheduled for March

22. END SUMMARY.

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JUDGE TAKES SILENCE AS "NOT GUILTY" PLEA
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2. (U) On February 23, nearly 90 defendants made their first
appearance in court since being denied bail seven weeks
earlier on January 4. Those appearing in court included:
former Coalition for Unity and Democracy (CUD) party chairman
Hailu Shawel; CUD vice chairman and former high court judge
Bertukan Mideksa; Professor Mesfin Woldemariam, who is age 75
and has apparently now ended the liquids-only hunger strike
that resulted in his losing "half his body weight" (according
to his daughter); Dr. Yacob Hailemariam; and Addis Ababa
mayor-elect Berhanu Nega, whose wife is a U.S. citizen.
During the three-hour-long proceedings, the court asked each
defendant to acknowledge whether they had committed the
crimes they were charged with, and to state any objections.
After the presiding judge stopped Hailu Shawel and other
defendants, stating that they could not make political
statements but only enter a plea, defendants largely chose to
remain silent, prompting the judge to declare that the court
would declare silence as a plea of "not guilty." CUD
vice-chairman Bertukkan Medeksa attempted to make a statement
at the end of the proceeding, declaring that defendants did
not want to appear in court nor to defend themselves, as the
trial was a political one. The presiding judge interrupted
her, stating that he would follow court procedure, rather
than allow political speeches.

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CIVIL SOCIETY NGOS PROTEST LACK OF EVIDENCE
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3. (U) Rather than remain silent, three representatives of
civil society NGOs (Daniel Bekele, of ActionAid Ethiopia;
Netsanet Demissie of the Organization for Social Justice in
Ethiopia; and Kassahun Kebede, leader of a teachers'
association),acknowledged the authority of the court, but
vocally objected to the charges, declaring their innocence
and decrying the lack of evidence against them. Seeking to
be tried separately from CUD leaders and detained
journalists, these NGO representatives unsuccessfully argued
that the prosecution's charges against them lacked specific
detail, and therefore should be dismissed. On March 1, in a
separate hearing attended only by the three NGO
representatives and two defendants who had not already
entered pleas (a teen-age boy whose claim to be 14 years old
and thus under-age was rejected by the court, and a man from
Gojjam who had been arrested recently),the High Court ruled
that the prosecutors' charges against the NGO representatives

ADDIS ABAB 00000667 002 OF 003


were proper, and agreed with the prosecutors' argument that
sufficient evidence existed and would be presented at trial
in the future. The court deferred decision on whether
defendants should be provided with a list of prosecution
witnesses and the testimony such witnesses were expected to
provide, citing prosecution concerns about witness protection
as defendants being tried in absentia remained at large.


4. (SBU) According to a visiting ActionAid executive from
London who is observing the trial, the NGO representatives
received "empty" dossiers from prosecutors when formal
charges were announced in court on December 21. In contrast,
39 detained CUD leaders each received a "list of evidence"
from prosecutors that named 91 documents and 35 audio or
video cassettes to be presented by prosecutors; these CUD
defendants also each received photocopies of the 91 documents
listed. The ActionAid executive decried the political nature
of the charges against Daniel Bekele and Netsanet Demissie,
whom he underscored were not members of the opposition CUD
party, but had been active in civil society programs,
including monitoring the 2005 national elections; they also
constituted Ethiopia's secretariat for the G-8 Global Call to
Action Against Poverty. He said they faced prosecution
solely for issuing official statements on behalf of
ActionAid, and cited a public statement by the Ministry of
Justice critical of ActionAid.


5. (SBU) The ActionAid executive, a UK national, reported
that authorities had allowed him to visit only the detained
NGO representatives in Kaliti prison. (NOTE: Visiting U.S.
academic Donald Levine was allowed to visit the detained CUD
leadership for three hours; EU development commissioner Louis
Michel also obtained access separately. The head of
delegation of the International Committee of the Red Cross
(ICRC) confirms, however, that ICRC has not been allowed
access to Kaliti prison since CUD leaders were transferred
there in December. Similarly, ICRC has not been allowed to
visit Ziway prison since detainees from Dedessa military camp
were moved there at the end of 2005. Previously, ICRC had
regular access to both facilities. END NOTE.) The ActionAid
executive noted that Daniel Bekele and Netsanet Demissie had
each been kept isolated from each other.

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SOME CUD LEADERS HELD WITH "DANGEROUS CRIMINALS"
-------------- ---


6. (U) The ActionAid executive reported that prison
authorities had divided all the nearly 90 political detainees
into three segregated groups. He confirmed that some
detained CUD leaders, including mayor-elect Berhanu Nega, had
been identified as "criminally dangerous" and placed with
violent criminals; as a result, they were shackled when
transported to court and generally faced harsher treatment.
During the February 23 proceeding, Berhanu Nega complained
that he now shared overcrowded quarters with 300 other
inmates, that certain reading material was not allowed, and
that he was shackled when brought to court; a prison official
testified that the prison was doing "the best with what we
have" and denied that reading material was suppressed.


7. (SBU) The appearance in court on February 23 of CUD
chairman Hailu Shawel came only three days earlier he had
received emergency eye surgery for a detached retina,
performed at a local hospital in Addis Ababa by a visiting
South African surgeon. According to family members, while
the surgery reattached the retina and prevented likely
blindness, Hailu was discovered to have a hole in the macula
of the eye, a condition which could require additional eye
surgery in the future. Post's regional medical officer,
reviewing medical conditions reported by Hailu's personal
physician (forwarded to AF/E),notes that Hailu displays
symptoms of untreated diabetes.

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COURTS CITE "LACK OF JUDGES" IN DEFERRING RULINGS
-------------- --------------


8. (U) Although the high court ruled on January 4 that none
of the 131 defendants (including nearly 40 to be tried in
absentia) were eligible for bail, NGO representatives Daniel

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Bekele and Netsanet Demissie have appealed the High Court's
decision to the Supreme Court, which was to have ruled on
their motion on March 6. However, the Supreme Court failed
to convene, citing lack of judges as an excuse. Similarly,
Berhanu Mogesse, a defense attorney who had been representing
Hailu Shawel and other detained CUD defendants, was to have
made a second appearance in court on March 6, after being
arrested and remanded into custody two weeks earlier
following a meeting with visiting EU commissioner for
development Louis Michel. However, the Court of First
Instance also failed to convene March 6 to consider Berhanu
Mogesse's case, again citing lack of judges.

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TRIAL CONTINUES TO INFLAME PUBLIC OPINION
--------------


9. (SBU) In deciding to transfer selected CUD leaders to the
general prison population and to identify some as "criminally
dangerous," prison officials are imposing harsher treatment
on defendants, a possible reaction to public statements
attributed to CUD vice chairman Bertukan Mideksa that have
been smuggled out of prison and subsequently posted on
diaspora websites. The ongoing trial continues to inflame
public opinion; several clashes occurred last week between
police and secondary or high school students reportedly
protesting the outcome of the March 1 hearing. The court has
imposed new restrictions on those observing the trial: for
example, issuing only a single court pass to each defendant's
family. Post continues to send observers (consular chief,
deputy pol/econ counselor, and an Amcit FSN to assist in
interpretation of the Amharic-language proceedings) to the
court proceedings, as do nearly a dozen foreign diplomatic
missions. Ethiopian officials are giving mixed signals about
the future course of the trial: on March 1, prosecutors
sought a one-month delay in proceedings, citing the need to
issue a public summons for 37 defendants at large through
publication in local newspapers; however, the presiding judge
asked that this be accelerated, and has called for the High
Court to convene next on March 22. A parliamentary
commission headed by a Supreme Court judge, tasked with
determining whether the GOE reacted to June and November 2005
anti-government protests with appropriate force, is also
expected to issue its findings soon.
HUDDLESTON