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Borkena
By BARNABAS SHIFERAW
April 27, 2020
The Ethiopian Women Lawyers Association has announced that it is closely following the case of Ms. Elsabet Kebede, a lawyer who was illegally imprisoned by the government several weeks ago.
Elsabet was arrested in Addis Ababa, where she resides, by the local police and, after spending the night in prison, sent to the Harari region, where she was accused by the regional prosecutor’s office of “spreading false information about the spread of COVID -19.
According to the association, although Elsabet has argued that her case is outside the jurisdiction of the regional court and asked the court to dismiss the case for this reason, the court has overturned its argument. Furthermore, although the police have not yet completed the inspection process and the district attorney has not officially opened a case against Elsabet either, court sessions are held and the district attorney argues to prove guilty. This, according to the association, is also a violation of legal procedures.
The Association has also announced that Elsabet currently does not have a lawyer because the lawyer provided by the regional government withdrew from the case for “personal reasons” after the court overturned a request for bail. All attempts by the association to provide Elsabet with a lawyer have failed because all lawyers licensed to practice in the region have refused to take the case “in a way that is not clear.”
Since Elsabet’s initial arrest, protests have been heard from several prominent activists and politicians calling for her release. According to them, the arrest is politically motivated, and the disregard for legal procedures from the moment of their arrest demonstrates this.
Elsabet became known for speaking out against the government structure implemented in the Harari region (known as 50-50-0) that reserves regional public offices for members of two ethnic groups, namely Harari and Oromo, and denies members from other ethnic groups. The right to hold public office.
The latest census shows that a considerable proportion of the region’s population comes from ethnic groups other than the two. For example, 22 percent of the population is made up of the Amhara, while the Harari represent only 8 percent of the total population. Ethnic groups such as Guragie, Argoba, Tigrie and Argobba also have a significant presence in the region. However, due to this 50-50-0 rule, more than a third of the population is removed from the political scene in the region. Many, including Elsabet, have called the practice an instance of apartheid. A similar practice is also implemented in the Dire Dawa City Administration, where 80 percent of public offices are reserved and shared equally between the Oromo and Somalis, while 20 percent remains for members of others. ethnic groups.
Many are convinced that Elsabet’s speeches and writings against these practices are what made her a target of the government. The accusation brought against her of “spreading false information about COVID_19 is, they say, a mere pretext. The false information is allegedly a Facebook post claiming that an infected person has sat down with two high-ranking officials in the region to chew Chat, a common practice in Harari.
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