Ethiopian News, Current Affairs and Opinion Forum
Za-Ilmaknun
Member
Posts: 4063
Joined: 15 Jun 2018, 17:40

ADDIS ABEBA SEES ANOTHER ROUND OF ARBITRARY ARREST....Addis Standard

Post by Za-Ilmaknun » 12 Oct 2019, 20:32

In what two eye witnesses near Addis Ketema preparatory school here in the capital Addis Abeba said was a “random arrest”, three young men were whisked away in an open pickup truck by five members of Addis Abeba police yesterday afternoon.
`
The arrest came shortly after the city police issued a statement late in the afternoon dismissing “as false the information being circulated on social media claiming that roads will be closed in connection with the rally.”


The rally the city police dismissed as non existent is an opposition rally that was under preparation for the last two weeks and was being organized by journalist and activist Eskinder Nega to protest against the “failed transition” under the administration of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed. It has been organized via online platforms such as social media as well as using media outlets supporting the journalist’s cause. A press briefing was also given by the organizers on Thursday October 10.

However, following Friday’s announcement by the Nobel Peace Prize Committee to award this year’s Nobel Peace Prize to PM Abiy Ahmed, Addisu Arega, head of the secretariat of the Oromo Democratic Party (ODP), the party led by PM Abiy, posted in his Facebook page that a demonstration to celebrate the Prime Minister’s win was being planned for today, October 13, the same day the protest rally was planned by Eskinder and his Addis Abeba Care Taker Council (Balderas) at Mesqel Square in Addis Abeba.

https://addisstandard.com/analysis-addi ... ry-arrest/

Za-Ilmaknun
Member
Posts: 4063
Joined: 15 Jun 2018, 17:40

Re: ADDIS ABEBA SEES ANOTHER ROUND OF ARBITRARY ARREST....Addis Standard

Post by Za-Ilmaknun » 12 Oct 2019, 20:41

Increasing frustration

The news adds up to an increasing frustration the residents of Addis Abeba are stocking against members of the city’s police commission due largely to what many see as the rise in police brutality.

In late August this year, two police officers were caught on camera brutality beating a young man and shoving an elderly woman, an incident which later on led to the commission to investigate the two officers and issue an apology.

Addis Abeba Police has had an increasingly rocky relation with residents of the city since September 2018 when the first mass arrest took place since Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed assumed office in April of the same year. See our analysis here. Since then and in the midst of a rising crime rate in the city, the police have had several occasions where random searches were conducted on bars, strip clubs, Shisha houses, and other recreational places resulting in several occasions of mass random detentions, often unaccounted for. AS


sun
Member+
Posts: 9312
Joined: 15 Sep 2013, 16:00

Re: ADDIS ABEBA SEES ANOTHER ROUND OF ARBITRARY ARREST....Addis Standard

Post by sun » 12 Oct 2019, 20:45

Za-Ilmaknun wrote:
12 Oct 2019, 20:32
In what two eye witnesses near Addis Ketema preparatory school here in the capital Addis Abeba said was a “random arrest”, three young men were whisked away in an open pickup truck by five members of Addis Abeba police yesterday afternoon.
`
The arrest came shortly after the city police issued a statement late in the afternoon dismissing “as false the information being circulated on social media claiming that roads will be closed in connection with the rally.”


The rally the city police dismissed as non existent is an opposition rally that was under preparation for the last two weeks and was being organized by journalist and activist Eskinder Nega to protest against the “failed transition” under the administration of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed. It has been organized via online platforms such as social media as well as using media outlets supporting the journalist’s cause. A press briefing was also given by the organizers on Thursday October 10.

However, following Friday’s announcement by the Nobel Peace Prize Committee to award this year’s Nobel Peace Prize to PM Abiy Ahmed, Addisu Arega, head of the secretariat of the Oromo Democratic Party (ODP), the party led by PM Abiy, posted in his Facebook page that a demonstration to celebrate the Prime Minister’s win was being planned for today, October 13, the same day the protest rally was planned by Eskinder and his Addis Abeba Care Taker Council (Balderas) at Mesqel Square in Addis Abeba.

https://addisstandard.com/analysis-addi ... ry-arrest/
Fake news, fake news.. bullshit talk...

Otherwise even Eskinder Neigga has said that some people were arrested, interviewed and released. 8)

Za-Ilmaknun
Member
Posts: 4063
Joined: 15 Jun 2018, 17:40

Re: ADDIS ABEBA SEES ANOTHER ROUND OF ARBITRARY ARREST....Addis Standard

Post by Za-Ilmaknun » 12 Oct 2019, 20:52

I wish it was fake news. I understand the message that this unhelpful action by the tribal police force would send to the international community. Eskindir just accomplished much more than what he dreamt of had he been allowed to go with his planned rally. If the rally was to proceed, it would have added more to the already rosy picture of the Nobel Prize winner PM. Alas not everyone in his administration has the maturity and the political acumen that the PM exhibits.

Post Reply