Ethio-EC relationship strained despite invitation to Meles....The farcical court....Crack down on former election observers

Ethiopia's dicator, Meles Zenawi, will dicuss the challenges of being a dictator on Friday November 17 - 9.30 to 12.00 in Brussels with the invitation of the European Commission as the relationship between the commission and Ethiopia is supposed to have deteriorated further.
Meles had a serious of phone meetings with José Manuel Barroso, the commission's President. Topics of discussion included Ethiopia's growing repression and the Sebhatu and Brothers espionage scanda. According to diplomatic sources, Meles blamed the head of EC delegation in Addis Ababa, Tim Clark, for the worsening relationship . Ambassador Clark whose job, according to sources, is under threat was in Brussels last week conferring with Commissioner Barrosso. He was assured that he would remain as head of delegation despite Ethiopia's enormous pressure.
The invitation to Meles came up after the discussions between Barosso and the PM.
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The farcical court
This blogger has obtained the full transcript of Yesterday's Testimony against Daniel Bekele, the Oxford graduate and social justice advocate who is facing charges of Genocide and Treason. I had stopped reporting on the trial because I thought there was no point in it. Yet because the transcript shows,how comical the court is, I have translated and posted it verbatim. See how ridiculous the testimony is....

Prosecutor presented its witness.....

Examination in chief

Name : Wondwosen Seyoum Dadi, age 29 ,
Occupation: unemployed
Address N/L/S/C: Kebele 08 ( yedirow woreday 20 , kebele 42)
Do you know why you are here today ?
To testify , I will testify on Daniel”
Prosecutor: Do you know Daniel?"
Witness pointed at Daniel and said “That is him"
Prosecutor: When and where did you get to know Daniel?
Witness: I first met Daniel in mid June”
Where?
Witness: I had tea in a cafe in front of UEDP/Medihn office with my friend Goshu. While we were leaving the cafe, Daniel came from behind and said 'Boys, what are you doing?' and then encouraged me and promised me to support us. He then gave me his mobile phone number and told me to call him in case I wanted help.
What did you tell him?
I told him that I was a kinijit member and work under the auspices of the Addis Ababa Committee and that I was an organizer.
What was your task within Kinijit?
I was organizing the youth within kinijit regarding the election in Addis Ababa.
When did you meet Daniel again?
I called him on the number he gave me and we talked. Then we met at his office.
Where was the office?
Action aid. We talked about the importance of money to organize the youth and make them protest. And based on our conversation, Daniel gave me 200 birr. I took the money and organized the youth.
What were the details of your discussion?
First, we talked about the need for overthrowing the governing party. But he told me if the government used its guns, we needed to organize people.
Did you meet Daniel afterwards?
I didn't meet Daniel afterwards, After the riots, I went into hiding. But I had seen Daniel having conversation with Tamrat Tarekegn on the street once.
Did you know whether Daniel was the member of CUD?
I did not know that Daniel was a member of the organization. But he told me that to get votes respected we need to rebel against the government. The rebellion continued but it was not fruitful. Therefore, I had to hide.
What did you do after that?
After the hiding, I gave myself up for the government. I did that to Woreda 21 police. Then I was taken to Sositegna police station and then to Maekelawi. Then I gave my testimony to the police and I was told to appear when I would be summoned.

Cross examination

Daniel Q. Where were you organizing people?
I was organizing around Gotera.
Who were the people or youth you were trying to organize ?
I do not remember people whom I was organizing.
You don't even remember a single name?
Yes, I do not know a single person by name.
How?
Because I was organizing people who were passing by. We didn't meet in offices. I didn't have office. I spoke to them on the street.
How do you organize people without knowing them? What if you would meet a policeman?
I organized like I said
Where did you hide?
In a village called Salo
Where is this place ?
Here in Addis
Could you tell me the address of the house you were hiding and the name of the owner of the house?
I didn't know the address and the name of the owner.
So you just went into a house you didn't know and hide there?
Yes
After the hiding, you said that you gave yourself up at Woreda 21. Who was the police you gave yourself up,
I do not remember him
So you just went there voluntarily without being summoned and gave yourself up? No when I returned from hiding, I was told that the police were coming at home and looking for me so I gave myself up.
Then what did you do after you went to the police?
I told them about the matter. The policeman heard me but he wasn't recording it and then he took me to Maekelawi.
Here Colonel Mengistu Hailemariam Araya(lawyer for Daniel) interjected. He asked the court to tell the witness to face the judges not the prosecutors who were showing eye signals to the witness.
Shimeles Kemal: I am working for the respect of justice and law more than the defense attorneys are. The defense is defaming the prosecutor. The court should take action on the defense attorney.
Adil(The presiding judge): If there is any eye signal, we will follow it and you should also follow it.

Witness: Then I testified at Maekelawi and was released.
What account did you give first?
The police first considered me as a suspect.
So were you released on bail?
No I was released without bail.
You were released without bail eventhough you were a suspect
Yes
When were you called back as a witness?
I went back again
So you went there twice, voluntarily?
Yes.
Then Daniel asked for the witness to show his kebele Id to the court. The judges saw it. Daniel asked to see it himself. The prosecutor objected. He argued that only the judge could see it. The judge said he could read the details to Daniel and started reading it. The ID says the witness worked at Luigi.
Daniel: Didn't you say that you have no job?
The one in the ID was where I worked
So why didn't you return the ID?
The prosecutor objected for this line of questioning
Judge Leul warned Daniel to concentrate on the basic issues

The court questions the witness:

How many times did you testify before the police ?
Once
How many times have you met Daniel?
Once at the cafe and then when I phoned him.
So when you met Daniel at the cafe, you were with Goshu. Where was Daniel sitting?
He was a little far from us
What were you talking about?
We were talking about how the government rigged the election and the necessity of revolting against the government.
So was daniel hearing this?
Yes
You said it was a cafe
Yes
Was there a music?
Yes
So if there was a music, wouldn't it have prohibited Daniel from listening to what you were talking about?
No, he was not far
So for how long had Daniel conversed with you?
He heard what we were talking about and followed us when we were leaving the Cafe. He conversed with us for two minutes and gave me his phone number.
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Crack down on former election observers
EPRDF has started fresh crack down on formed CUD election observers in Addis Ababa. Two observers from woreda Nine and another one from Wordeda Two were dragged out of their homes and arrested on the night of November 7 . They haven't yet appeared in court. Well-placed police sources said that the EPRDF was looking for CUD's "underground group" and the detention of people with CUD connections would continue unabated.