Tewodros Beharu: Ethiopia’s prosecutor from hell in America (By Abebe Gellaw)

Under the brutal rule of the TPLF, courts are key instruments of repression. This is not an allegation. It is rather a well-documented and substantiated fact widely known across the world. One of the worst crimes the TPLF has committed in the last two decades is using fake laws, Kangaroo courts, unjustly ruthless “prosecutors” and “judges” to silence and torment anyone opposed to its criminal tyranny.

“Prosecutors” and “lawyers” in the league of Shimelis Kemal have committed heinous crimes under the guise of nonexistent due process. Among other things, Shimelis is the author of the so-called anti-terrorism proclamation and the charities and societies law. Tewodros Beharu, who was recruited as a student OPDO operative at college, is one of those who were willingly followed the bloody footsteps of TPLF’s hacks like Shimelis.

Journalists, activists and political dissidents that have survived torture chambers, killing sprees and all sorts of inhumane treatment are mostly forced to go through the Kangaroo court system even if the whole process is a sham designed to give repression a semblance of justice. The system deliberately dispenses injustice by imposing the will of the TPLF under the guise of justice.

The fake and unjust “lawyers” like Tewodros Beharu, Berhanu Wondimagegn, Zeresenay Misganaw and Berihun Teklebirhan were given tasks to persecute journalists and activists using the anti-terrorism law. In the service of their TPLF paymasters, the hack lawyers have fabricated countless treason and terrorism charges against innocent people whose only crime was exposing and challenging the corruption and tyranny of the TPLF.

Fake prosecutor Tewodros Beharu is no exception. He willingly and passionately played a key role in sending Eskinder Nega, Andualem Aragie, Reeyot Alemu, Nathnael Mekonnen, Bekele Gerba, Olbana Lelisa, the Muslim leaders and so many political prisoners to the hellish TPLF jails. This unjust man is now living in Silver Spring, Maryland. While his victims are suffering in harsh jails, he appears to go to bed without any remorse and regrets.
After shattering the dreams of so many patriots condemned to suffer nightmares just for the love of their people and country, he is pursuing “happiness” and the American dream. It appears that the former TPLF tormentor and persecutor has sought asylum under false pretence that he was persecuted and tortured. To make matters worse, he rejected numerous requests to explain about the way he and his partners in crime were able to convict innocent people with serious terrorism offences and crimes they have never committed. He even tried to blame it all on Shimelis Kemal despite the key roles he played in the whole drama.

Whatever the justification, Tewdoros knows the fact that political prisoners deemed to be threats to the TPLF are always guilty, even before they are pronounced guilty as charged by opportunistic Kangaroo court judges and prosecutors like himself hired to do the dirty job. He is also aware of the fact that the “terrorists” he convicted faced concocted and fictitious charges without the need to present any shred of evidence. They have been denied a fair trial and the basic right to challenge false accusations to prove their innocence.

The worst and most outrageous legal drama unfolded in the aftermath of the 2005 elections. The landslide election victory the opposition had pulled off triggered Meles Zenawi’s panic attacks. Over 193 civilians including minors were mowed down by the brutal Agazi brigade and the federal police. Then opposition party leaders, journalists and civil society leaders were detained and charged with genocide, outrage against the constitution and treason, charges authored by Shimelis Kemal and his handlers.

Former publisher and journalist Serkalem Fasil and her son Nafkot Eskinder, who was born in jail in the wake of the 2005 election turmoils, were forced to flee Ethiopia almost a year ago. Her husband , the fiery award-winning journalist Eskinder Nega, was convicted of trumped-up “terrorism” offenses. He was condemned to 18 years in jail. The chief prosecutor in this and other high profile anti-terrorism charges to inflict maximum harm and pain was none other than Tewodros Beharu.

Following Eskinder’s terrorism conviction, their two houses and a car were confiscated. Adding insult to injury, TPLF was very eager to make sure that not only Eskinder but his family suffer the injustice. After losing everything they have, it was a hard and heartbreaking decision for Serkalem to leave her husband behind. But upon his insistence, she had no choice but to go into exile, at least to protect their child from the unjustly tormenting and painful experience.

A couple of weeks later, Tewodros Beharu, along with his wife Meron Girma, left Ethiopia dreaming a better life in the United States. Unlike the majority of Ethiopian exiles that flee persecution, torture, killings and discrimination, the former public prosecutor left behind the shattered dreams of so many political prisoners and their families.

Tewodros was one of TPLF’s prosecutors, or rather persecutors, trained and employed to fabricate terrorism charges against political prisoners like Eskinder Nega, Andualem Aragie, Nathaniel Mekonnen, Reeyot Alemu, Wubishet Taye, Bekeke Gerba, Olbana Lelisa, the Muslim community leaders and the two Swedish journalists Johan Persson and Martin Schibbye. Tewdos also convicted exiled “terrorists” such as Obang Metho, Neamin Zeleke, Dr. Berhanu Nega, Ephrem Madebo, Fasil Yenealem, Mesfin Negash, Abiy Teklemariam and myself.

In a reversal of fortune, Tewodros Beharu has ended up among the terrorists he falsely accused and convicted. This beggars the question how the persecuted and the persecutors can coexisted in the land of freedom where the rule of law is supreme. When victims and tormentors face off, the “dreamer “in the pursuit of happiness may be too sad to face truth, justice and reality….

As Malcolm X once said, “I’m for truth, no matter who tells it. I’m for justice, no matter who it’s for or against.” Not only Tewodros but all the false accusers and judges in Ethiopia should realize the fact that those of us they convicted with all sorts of crimes and terrorism are not criminals and terrorists but law-abiding citizens that dare to speak truth to power.

Tormenting and attacking innocent people with false accusations and fake laws is nothing but terrorism. Those who falsely accuse and prosecute others are conscious criminals. They cannot invoke ignorance or arrogance as a defense.

Let the truth speak for itself. The truth never lies. It is always powerful and irrefutable.

Ethiopia PM at odds with TPLF on Oromo protests

Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn is once again at odds with the powerful TPLF branch of EPRDF ruling party, according to sources connected to his adminstration. This time the dispute is on government response to Oromo protests in Oromia region, according to a journalist of an English weekly paper who asked to remain anonymous for fear of reprisals.

Hailemariam, an ethnic Welayta native, does not have the military background and the political power that former Tigrayan Prime Minister Meles zenawi had. Meles was the executive head of the Tigrayan Peoples Liberation Front (TPLF) for over thirty years. Even though various ethnic groups are well represented inside the Ethiopian military, most of the top executive positions are held by Tigrayans. Some reports claim that around 70 percent of the country’s top generals and military leaders are still ethnic Tigrayan today, even though Tigrayans makeup only 6 percent of the Ethiopian population.

The Govt source said TPLF military chiefs wanted to stop the peaceful Oromo student protest early before it turned into riots, but there was “lack of leadership and policy from Arat Kilo,” (refering to the Menelik Palace were the PM resides. )

Despite their small numbers in the country, Hailemariam’s ethnic Welaytas are said to have significant presence in the mid-level positions in the army and federal force. However, TPLF’s military heads complain that Hailemariam portrays a “soft leader” image and the police has been overstretched with nonstop demonstrations for months. They say the public is emboldened to take their angers to the streets since Meles died. Since 2013, millions of Muslim Ethiopians have been protesting in the cities while the “legal opposition” groups have also organized various protests, sometimes without permit. But the recent Oromo protests have irritated the TPLF military authorities the most, as some OPDO (another EPRDF branch) members have provided covert support.

The source said Hailemariam’s chances of being re-elected to lead EPRDF ruling party are slim. Hailemariam has also been under American pressure to deliver a peace deal in South Sudan, though some TPLF army officials are suspicious of the Sudanese opposition.

TPLF military chiefs claimed South Sudan peace deals signed in Addis Ababa are symbolic but meaningless on the ground because the rebel leader Riek Machar does not have full control of opposition fighters.

Ethiopian Regime Quietly Disintegrating

Although Prime Minister Haile Mariam Desalegn holds the highest office in Ethiopia, he has no real authority. He is described as a  Medvedev for a group of Putins in the ruling TPLF party.

Ethiopian Regime Quietly Disintegrating

By AfricanIntelligence,

The general election looming ahead in 2015 is already casting a shadow over the Ethiopian government, whose sole uniting bond would seem to be its praise for the memory of its late Prime Minister Meles Zenawi.

His portraits are on all the walls in Addis Ababa, which was not the case when he was alive, and in the Federal Assembly a video projector plays his speeches with the aim of inspiring the new MPs. And yet, since Meles Zenawi died in August 2012, the federal government has been rudderless, lacking a descendent.

His successor as Prime Minister, Haile Mariam Desalegn, has neither the grip nor the political clout and has not managed to impose himself on the other political leaders. He frequently has to be content with merely dealing with everyday business. While it is true the Ethiopian State, whose tradition goes back a long way has not fallen into decadence, the different factions and regionalist tendencies are making federal power increasingly fragmented.

Divisions produce inertia – Going beyond appearances, the ruling coalition Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Frong (EPRDF) is in embryonic Crisis state. Its central core, the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), is deeply divided between “provincial” faction led by the Tigray Regional State President Abay Woldu, and the “modern nationalist” faction headed by Deputy Prime Minister Debretsion Gebremicahel, not to forget the various other Tigrayan sub-factions such as those of the elderly Marxist Sebhat Nega and the Meles Zenawi’s widow Azeb Mesfin.

Facing this inter-Tigrayan squablle, the Amhara in the ANDM and the Oromo in the OPDO (two of the parties in the ruling coalition) are watching from the wings, biding their time before they go into the arena. This freezes the decision-making power, as each faction does not want to make the wrong decision and yield an advantage to its rivals. In early April, speaking on a live TV debate (a rare event in itself), Amare Aregawi the editor of The reporter asked the Prime Minister who is it that makes the decisions in the office and whether he is capable of making any himself. Much to the surprise of the viewers who are used to seeing decisiveness on their screens, Haile Mariam Desalegn mumbled an unconvincing response, confirming that the question had indeed struck home.

The economy and diplomacy are broken – Ethiopian diplomacy suffers from a lack of leadership at the top of country. Questions about the situation in Somalia are left to the head of the Ethiopian army which is intervening directly in its neighbour’s territory. In the case of the IGAD mediation in the South Sudan crisis, the former foreign affairs minister Seyoum Mesfin was recalled from his post of ambassador to Beijing to lead the mediation. He nevertheless played a fairly effective role of mediator, which was largely taken over by the Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni even though Ethiopia did at the time hold the presidency of IGAD.

Similar blockages have produced similar effects in the management of the State-oned companies. The telephone network run by Ethio Telecom (formerly ETC) provides a very poor service, mainly because of frequent electricity outages which also affect the water distribution system when the electric pumps stop running. The cause is breakdowns of the aging transformers purchased second-hand from India by the Ethiopian Electric Power Corporation (EEPCO) several years ago. Today, EEPCO and ETC are squabbling over who should pay the cost of renovating the electricity system, a problem which Debretsion Gebremicael, the chairman of the EEPCO and ETC boards, has been unable to settle.

Regionalism becoming more intense – Since the end of April, the federal police have brutally repressed student protests against the Master Plan in several universities in the Oromia Regional State. This Master Plan involves the expansion of Addis Ababa whose mayor, Diriba Kuma, is also an Oromo.

In the students’ view, this project would eat into Oromo land and reduce the area their language is used. This is regionalist exacerbation is illustrated by certain of the student slogans, proclaiming “Oromia for Oromos” and by the start of misdemeanours against Amhara farmers obliged to leave their land and take refuge in Addis Ababa.

Certain TPLF officials have no qualms to explain that in their view, some ultra-regionalist elements of the ruling OPDO are discreetly fueling this student protest movement against the Master Plan.

Read more: http://www.madote.com/2014/05/ethiopian-regime-quietly-disintegrating.html#ixzz31d66oVVH

Alemayehu Atomsa , chairperson of the Oromo Peoples’ Democratic Organisation (OPDO)Dies

Less than two weeks after resigning from his post as chairperson of the Oromo Peoples’ Democratic Organisation (OPDO) – one of the four member parties of the ruling EPRDF – and president of the Oromia Region, Alemayehu Atomsa died late on Thursday, March 6, 2014.

Alemayehu, who was an obscure figure – formerly with the EPRDF’s propaganda office and with little connection to the OPDO’s rank and file prior to his appointment as president of Ethiopia’s largest of nine regional states – was absent from office most of the time due to illness. On February 18, 2014, the OPDO disclosed that it had accepted his request to step-down from his presidency due to health related issues.

The Chinese-educated president had not previously received the go-ahead from the Party to step down, although he had tendered his resignation on several occasions. Alemayehu fell sick within months of his appointment, and had been rarely able to conduct his duties, travelling abroad for medical care for the majority of the last two years.

Alemayehu was pronounced dead at 1am on Thursday at the age of 45, after receiving medical treatment in Bangkok, Thailand. He was a father of two daughters and a son.

Born in 1969 in the Bilo Boshe woreda of East Wollega – one of the 17 zones in the Oromia Region – Alemayehu was replaced by Muktar Kedir, minister of the Civil Service & Good Governance Reform Cluster, with the rank of deputy prime minister, in both posts as chairperson of the OPDO and president of the Oromia Region.

TPLF Accuses OPDO of Secessionism

Added by Jawar on September 29, 2012.
Saved under Analyses, Articles

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As a sign of the escalating attack on OPDO, a pro-regime newspaper Sendeq alleges that the OPDO is resisting TPLF’s interference because it harbors a secessionist agenda. Citing unnamed sources, the paper claims that those who complain about the process and outcome of the succession and those who are opposed to TPLF interference in OPDO’s internal organizational affairs are the “ones infested with OLF’s ideology, and want to break away Oromia.” It is ironic that Bereket Simon, whose motherland Eritrea broke away from Ethiopia, has the nerve to try to gain political capital by accusing OPDO of secessionism.

The paper further claims that OPDO was shut out of  senior  post at the party and executive branch because it failed to develop capable leaders. This ridiculous assertion is part of the psychological warfare popularized by the departed Prime Minister to legitimizing denying real power to OPDO, whose members make up 57% of the EPRDF’s rank and file. Meles once uttered such nonsense in a response to an Oromo student who asked him why Oromos are denied political power comparable with their numeric size and economic contribution to the federation. After agreeing with the student’s assessment (this was 2005 and Meles was working hard to win over Oromos), he said “ I am willing to give up my post to an Oromo, but I am unable to find a capable replacement as the educated Oromos have run away.” Another student fired back and turned Meles’ lousy excuse upside down: “Sir, please give the power to me, because if you, a sophomore drop out, can run this country for so long, I, who just completed my masters, am surely qualified to govern it better.” He then jokingly apologized saying “please pardon me if I offended you; I am from Dire, and down there, our parents don’t teach us how to be politically correct.” The tyrant characteristically smiled to cover his visible embarrassment.

It is not the first time this newspaper has attacked the OPDO. It is this very paper that waged a character assassination campaign against Juneydi Sado, former president of Oromia and current minister of the Civil Service by accusing his wife of terrorism and chastising the minister  for defending the innocence of his wife who is still in detention.

In recent months,Sendeq  has replaced the now defunct Ethio Channel as the mouthpiece of the intelligence services. Ethio Channel was known for publishing defamation against the regime’s opponents. Its notorious prominence came to light during the aftermath of the 2005 election when it regularly published transcripts of the Coalition for Unity and democracy’s  leadership meeting gained from wire tapping. But a month ago, Ethio Channel suddenly fell out of favor and its owner Samson Mamo was thrown into jail along with his wife. The immediate cause of his demise is said to be his decision to publish Juneydi Sado’s open letter denouncing the defamation campaigns waged at him. Now Sendeq has taken over the role previously played by Ethio Channel.

According to sources, Sandeq is financed by Al Amoudi, the well known businessman., who has been at odds with OPDO for quite some time. The flash point of the dispute goes back to 2005. When Meles was trying to do everything in his power to appease Oromos in order to isolate the CUD. After reversing the decision to remove the seat of Oromia government from Finfinne to Adama, an initiative was kicked off to build an Oromo Heritage Center in the capital. At the fundraising event for this project, Al Amoudi promised that he will match the amount raised on that day. Oromos came from all walks of life and contributed millions. But after the construction of the center began, Al Amoudi refused to pay the money he promised. Angered by this betrayal, the Oromia regional government, under Abadula’s leadership, decided to fund the project from its own budget. The region also confiscated thousands of hectares of land that had been given to Al Amoudi for failing  to fulfill the terms of the lease, to develop the land within a limited time frame.

Moreover, when Al Amoudi’s farm at Bishaan Gurrachaa (between Shashamene and Awasa) was mysteriously burned down , Al Amoudi’s surrogates accused OPDO leaders of sabotage. Furthermore, when Oromos of Guji waged an intensive protest against toxic wastes released from the Midroc gold mines, Al Amoudi promised to compensate the Guji zone by donating 15 million birr to community development projects, only to backtrack afterwards. Al Amoudi’s repeated false promises to a region where three-fourth of Midroc’s operations takes place infuriated the regional administrators who in response erected bureaucratic hurdles to the billionaire’s extensive business operations. Therefore, the Sheik’s operatives were waging intensive smear campaign against key OPDO leaders, particularly Abadula, Juneydi and Girma Birru. They were openly claiming victory for removal of Girma Birru from the ministerial post he held for a long time. The Sheik and his men are therefore too happy to throw his weight behind TPLF in their intensified attack on OPDO.

In a related news the OPDO Central Committee has reconvened today September 29, 2012, for the third time since Meles’s death. While electing party and regional leadership is still on the top of the agenda, issues related to TPLF’s aggressive interference are expected to dominate the discussion. In anticipation, TPLF in its part is planning to make the issue of “OLF infiltration of OPDO” the first agenda item. Towards this end, the intelligence service has been ordered to compile a dossier showing connection between several vocal members of the Central Committee and the ‘terrorist’ organization. Outside the CC, targets might include the OPDO members of parliament who ‘missed’ Hailemariam’s swearing in. Over half of the the 180  Oromo MP’s did not show up for the emergency secession leading TPLF  to suspect that their absence might have been a result of the spread of disaffection within OPDO’s rank and file.