"Ethiopia appeals for death sentence for Mengistu" Reuters

Tue 3 Jul 2007, 12:12 GMT

By Tsegaye Tadesse

ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - Ethiopian prosecutors on Tuesday appealed for a death sentence for former Marxist ruler Mengistu Haile Mariam, saying the life sentence he was given for genocide was not equal to his crimes.

An Ethiopian court in January sentenced Mengistu to life in prison for killings thousands of people during his bloody 17-year rule, which included famine, war and brutal purges including the "Red Terror" slaughter of suspected opponents.

Special Prosecutor Kiros Yosef told the appeals court that the sentences handed down to Mengistu and other officials convicted in January after a 12-year trial "were not commensurate with what they have done".

"I request the court to impose the ultimate penalty -- the death penalty -- against Mengistu and his co-defendants," he said.

No matter what the court decides, Mengistu is unlikely to face justice in Ethiopia. He has lived in exile for 16 years in Zimbabwe, which has refused to extradite him.

Kiros gave one example of the brutal nature of Mengistu's military junta, known as the Derg, which toppled the feudal rule of Emperor Haile Selassie in 1974.

"At a meeting chaired by Mengistu Haile Mariam in the old Menelik II Palace, Derg officials sent to death 59 former officials of the emperor with a wave of the hand," he said.

"They were forced to stand near a mass grave prepared earlier and were brutally shot to death by firing squad," Kiros said.

Mengistu and co-defendants also carried out the "Red Terror" purge in which 1,200 civilians suspected of belonging to an opposition party were killed and their bodies dumped in the street as a warning to others.

Defence lawyers argued that all the charges against the former military officials arose from actions taken during what they termed a "popular uprising" to overthrow the emperor.

"We regret the loss of life. But we have done something positive during our rule and we appeal to the court to show leniency," the defendants said in a statement.

"Penalty against crimes committed should not be seen as a vendetta, it should rather be used as a time to ponder and regret what has happened," one of the defendants, who was not identified, told the court.

Reuters