
PAPER CHASE NEWSBURST |  |
Serious law. Primary sources. Global perspective. |
|

 |

|
Saturday, February 25, 2006 |

Ethiopia elections protesters treason trial begins
Jaime Jansen at 3:59 PM ET

[JURIST] The trial of 129 lawmakers, journalists and human rights activists on treason charges opened Friday in Ethiopia. The charges relate to mass demonstrations [JURIST report] in the wake of Ethiopia’s May 2005 elections; the 129 defendants were arrested after street protests in July and November [JURIST report]. The opposition Coalition of Unity and Democracy (CUD) [political party website] claims that Prime Minister Meles Zenawi “stole” the election by rigging the vote and intimidating witnesses. All but three of the defendants refused to enter a plea, and 38 defendants were charged in absentia.
Under Ethiopian law, the sentence for treason is death. In January, Federal Court Judge Adil Ahmed ordered the case to proceed when a group of the 129 defendants challenged the court’s jurisdiction [JURIST report]. The opposition members have also been barred from meeting with their defense lawyers [JURIST report] and appeared without them in court before the trial began. The Washington Times has more.


Link |
e-mail report |
how to subscribe |
JURIST news archive | © JURIST

| For a one-stop snapshot of the latest legal news that matters, with breaking documents, new legal videos, live law-related webcasts, commentary by expert law professors and more - all updated through the day in real time, with no ads and no registration barriers - visit JURIST's homepage and check back often... |
|
|

ABOUT | |
|
 | 
Paper Chase is JURIST's real-time legal news weblog, powered by a team of 20 law student reporters and editors led by law professor Bernard Hibbitts at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law. As an educational service, Paper Chase is dedicated to presenting important legal news and materials rapidly, objectively and intelligibly in an accessible, ad-free format.
|
|
|