ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - Ethiopian opposition leaders charged with plotting to overthrow the government of Prime Minister Meles Zenawi were accused on Monday of emulating east European pro-democracy demonstrators.
In a trial that has outraged rights groups, 75 opposition leaders, journalists and civil society activists stand accused of treason, inciting violence and attempting to commit genocide.
"The evidence will show how the opposition leaders were haranguing the public to emulate the Ukrainian and Georgian revolution and bring down the constitutional government in Ethiopia," lead prosecutor Shimeles Kemal said.
The 75 were charged in December after two separate outbreaks of violence in which at least 80 people were killed in clashes between protesters and security forces over results from an election last May that the opposition say were rigged.
The post-election crackdown tarnished Meles' democratic credentials and prompted donors, including Britain and the European Union, to halt direct budgetary aid to sub-Saharan Africa's second most populous nation.
The prosecution opened its case on Monday in a hall converted into a tribunal in Kaliti, 13 miles (20 km) north of Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa.
Prosecutors began by showing videos -- including five hours of two news conferences by the Coalition for Unity and Democracy-- which they said proved the opposition's illegal intentions.
"The evidence will show how leaders of the opposition were attempting to subvert the public so that it would not have confidence in the May 15, 2005, parliamentary election", Shimeles said.
The defendants have refused to enter pleas in what is Ethiopia's biggest court case since the genocide trial against former Marxist dictator Mengistu Haile Mariam and henchmen began 14 years ago.
Reuters
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