| ARCHIVE |
These are archived updates regarding the trial proceedings, Kifle's health, and spirit November 26, 2006 November 22, 2006 November 2, 2006 October 30, 2006 August 3, 2006 June 23, 2006 June 11, 2006 March 20, 2006 |
| MARCH 20, 2006 |
Kifle stated that they had only received the charges the Friday evening prior to the court hearing on Monday March 20 and therefore had been unable to review and take legal counsel and requested an adjournment. At the court hearing, several of the defendants said they had been severely tortured and forced to sign confessions and provide witness statements. They had also been denied subsequent medical treatment. The defendants applied for bail which was objected to by the prosecutor because he said that the charges were too serious. The judges ordered that those defendants who required medical attention should receive this. They set a date of April 7, 2006 to review the bail application. |
| JUNE 11, 2006 |
On April 12, an appeal to the rejection of the bail application was submitted to the Supreme Court. As on June 8th, there has been no ruling on this with repeated delays associated with the loss of the documents and other excuses. Kifle has appeared in court on repeated occasions: May 9, 2006. May 18th, May 25th and most recently on June 8, 2006. These appearances have mostly addressed procedural matters. Prosecutors have sought on a number of occasions to modify the charges being brought against him and others in his group and continue to argue against the granting of bail. The prosecution requested that they redefine the charges. Prosecution response to Kifle's legal challenge to this have included the Prosecutor admitting that dates were missed out on the original charge document due to a "typing error" amongst others., The defence application to see the list of evidence and witnesses was to date denied. His ongoing application for bail remains pending. Kifle has been incarcerated for six months. During the six months, his release has been ordered twice by the courts and denied by the police and prosecutors. He is being held at the "Kerchele" Prison in central Addis Ababa under very poor conditions. Prosecutors refer to evidence of his guilt in the charges that have been brought so far, but do not share this evidence with his lawyer or him. Visiting is limited to 5-10 minutes on Saturdays and Sundays in large supervised groups. The charges Kifle is facing have no legal basis. He, and many others, continue to be held illegally in appalling conditions; many have been tortured. The imprisonment of the opposition MPs has denied the people their democratic right to be represented in Parliament. It is time the world opened their eyes to stop these atrocities and fight for the release of Kifle and his fellow CUD members and many thousands of other unlawfully imprisoned Ethiopians. |
| JUNE 23, 2006 |
At the last court appearance, the judge ruled in favour of the defence lawyer's request to provide specificity to the charges for all defendants. He also ruled that the prosecutor should make available the evidence and list of witnesses. This has been encouraging. The Prosecutor will present all of these documents at the next court hearing on June 27th. |
| AUGUST 3, 2006 |
After continuous delays, Kifle and the other 29 defendants were
again brought to the Supreme Court on Wednesday August 2nd - this
time to hear the decision of the judges as to the long pending
bail appeal (filed in April 2006). |
| OCTOBER 12, 2006 |
Kifle's trial was delayed for a further 19 days today as he has been admitted to the police hospital for a minor skin infection. Kifle is in good spirits and the cleaner and more sanitary conditions of the hospital have been a welcome change. Once the trial starts we will try and keep you updated on the progress. |
| OCTOBER 26, 2006 |
Kifle remains in the police Hospital where he is getting treatment and making good progress. The trial is now due to start on October 31st. Decision on the bail application continues to be delayed. On resumption of the Supreme Court, the Judges stated, on October 11th, that they had not been able to review the case documents and that they would make a ruling after 10 days which would be sent to the prison. This bail application has been pending for 6 months since April 2006 |
| NOVEMBER 2 , 2006 |
Kifle's trial started on Tuesday October 31st. Over 2 days, eleven witnesses gave their evidence. These events took place in one of the smaller High Court rooms. International observers were turned away and no family members were allowed in to listen. The proceedings have now been delayed until December 30th - another 2 months. This delay only reinforces that due and speedy process is not being followed. |
| NOVEMBER 22, 2006 |
On October 31st, after ten and a half months in detention, Kifle and 30 other defendants were herded into the small High Court room on. They listened on the first day of their trial as obviously coached witnesses were brought in. On the first day there were no family members or observers present in the court. On the second day, the proceedings had been moved to a larger room so family members were present. One witness was not quite clear why he had been asked to appear in court. He did identify several of the defendants as they lived in his neighborhood. However he was unable to verify that he had seen them do anything wrong. At this point the Prosecutor got quite angry with him, as did one of the judges who began to ask questions himself. Unable to get any response, this witness was rapidly escorted out of the court. Another witness when asked if he could identify any wrong doing by any of the defendants stated that the only thing he had seen one person do was switch of the television. As regards the charge of “attempted genocide” the witness stated that some young men had entered her house and stolen her camera. She and her daughter stated that the reason they did was that they were Tigrayans. She identified a number of defendants that had done this. However, as the defense lawyer pointed out they belonged to the same ethnic group that she did - so where is the genocide? Not only was minimal evidence to substantiate these charges confirmed by the witnesses, at no time was Kifle mentioned by any of these people. It was also abundantly clear that these witnesses had been coached in their responses. The next date set for court, 2 months hence on December 30th, is yet another blatant delaying tactic.
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| NOVEMBER 26, 2006 |
In 17 days, Kifle will have been held illegally for 1 year. At no time has any concrete evidence been brought against him to substantiate the unbelievable charges of “outrages against the constitution” and “attempted genocide”. In fact, witness statements (see below) confirm the absolute lack of basis of any of these charges. There is increasing and clear evidence that there is no independent judiciary and that the ongoing trials fall far short of international standards. One week ago, Kifle and all the other prisoners who had been held in Kerchele were moved to Kaliti prison. This makeshift prison is now bursting at the seams as Prime Minister Meles continues his clamp down on the opposition. Conditions fail by a long way to meet any international standards and can only be described as appalling and inhumane. Kifle is in a corrugated iron shed of 13
x 26 meters with 200 other people. The prison
now holds at least 1400 people in a small area broken up into
zones. Exercising is hard because it is too crowded. Kifle
has to cover his mouth because it is too dusty outside; inside
it is too hot to stay and read. At least he has been given a
bunk bed but these are less than one foot apart and he
has to climb onto the top. At his age, although at least
off the floor where rats are said to run about, it must be hard
to climb up. Although the floor is cemented, garbage
is strewn everywhere. Political prisoners and common
criminals are all together and within the first few days Kifle
has already had his blood glucose meter stolen as well as some
money. Sanitary conditions provide cause for great concern
- In Zone 3, where Kifle is being held, there are 3
showers for 200 people but only one works; toilets
are extremely bad.
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