Soldiers give evidence as OLF militia stand trial
Story by NATION Correspondent
Publication Date: 8/22/2006
Seven Ethiopian military officers yesterday identified 12 of the 32 men accused of being members of the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF).
The witnesses were giving evidence at a Moyale court in a case in which the 32 are accused of being members of an illegal movement.
Security was tight around the court and the public was locked out as the case went on. Only Pressmen and human rights activists were allowed in.
The seven officers said they had worked with the suspects before renouncing the rebel movement to join the Ethiopian army.
One witness, Mr Bonaya Halakhe Waqo, said he had served in the same unit with 11 of the suspects four years ago before he left the movement.
"We had our bases in Sololo, Uran, Walda and Bute in Kenya from where we occasionally organised incursions on Ethiopian security forces," Mr Waqo told senior resident magistrate Nduku Njuki who is presiding over the case.
The suspects were arrested three weeks ago during a joint Kenyan-Ethiopian military operation in Marsabit and Moyale districts.
Mr Waqo said he disowned OLF after it split into two. When one of the suspects asked him if he had ever seen him, Mr Waqo replied: "You were a former administrative chief in Bula Adhi in Ethiopia before you defected and joined OLF".
A second witness, Mr Galma Harow, disclosed how OLF members operate. He said: "Members use code names to hide their identities".
He said he was recruited in 2001 after he was convinced by four of the accused persons that OLF was fighting for the freedom of the Oromo community.
Another witness, Mr Waqo Abdi, identified two of the suspects as being members of the central committee of OLF.
He said the two used to be in charge of recruitment and were paid allowances for their work. Two other Ethiopian military officers are expected to give their evidence when hearing resumes today.
Source: www.nationmedia.com
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Magistrate sent to try Oromo suspects
Story by ABDI ALI
Publication Date: 08/19/2006
A senior magistrate and a prosecutor were yesterday sent to Moyale District to hear delayed cases of 31 suspected Oromo Liberation Front rebels.
Ms Nduku Njuki and prosecutor J. Kimeu were transferred from Marsabit and Nairobi respectively.
They were taken to the district after media reports that the suspects were languishing in cells because there was no magistrate to hear their cases.
Last Wednesday, police conceded that the suspects had been held without trial for a long time due to lack of judicial officers to prosecute and try them.
District commissioner Victor Okioma made a formal request to the registrar of the High Court to provide the officers.
Mr Okioma said that those held were suspected to be members of the OLF, a group that has been fighting to overthrow the Ethiopian Government.
"Those in the cells are not innocent Kenyans as claimed by local leaders," said Mr Okioma.
31 in police cells for lack of magistrate
Story by NATION Correspondent
Publication Date: 08/17/2006
Thirty one people arrested in Moyale District are unlikely to leave police cells any time soon.
Some of those arrested have already spent two weeks in the cells due to lack of a magistrate.
An assistant commissioner of police in charge of operations in Eastern Province, Mr Samwel Lullii Lule, said the area magistrate told them that he was not qualified to preside over an international case.
The suspects were arrested on claims of being members of the Oromo Liberation Front, a rebel outfit fighting the Ethiopian regime.
Responding to the protests by local leaders led by MP Wario Mala Galgalo, the assistant police commissioner said police were ready to prosecute, but there was no gazetted prosecutor.
Mr Galgalo accused the police of illegally keeping suspects in custody for several days without arraigning them in court.
However, Mr Lule said the issue had been discussed, and there are plans to get a magistrate and a gazetted prosecutor to try the suspects," said Mr Lule.
Mr Lule noted that there was an urgent need to have the judicial officers handle the case, as more suspects were likely to be arrested.
Mr Lule said the operation would continue until OLF operatives were flushed out of the district.
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