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Ethiopia's Zenawi threatens to close Embassy over Birtukan Mideksa case
Ethiopia's Prime Minister Meles Zenawi is threatening to close his government's Embassy in Sweden due to Stockholm's continued pressure for the release of top opposition leader Judge Birtukan Mideksa, according to local media sources.

Judge Mideksa has been imprisoned for nearly 600 days and supporters say she was denied medical assistance after her long hunger strike. The first woman leader of an Ethiopian political party whose ancestry comes from multiple ethnicities, she has crossed various barriors to become a common national icon and the symbol of Ethiopian resistance against tyranny.

Birtukan Mideksa was the chairperson of the Unity for Democracy and Justice (UDJ) party, which is the largest opposition group in Ethiopia and a member of the "Medrek" grand opposition coalition. Ms. Mideksa was re-arrested and imprisoned on December 28, 2008 after making speeches to her supporters in Sweden that angered the Zenawi government. When asked about the danger of being re-imprisoned, Birtukan said she was "ready to sacrifice everything for the cause of democracy, justice and peaceful change" in Ethiopia. The Swedish government reacted strongly against her re-imprisonment as Swedish Minister Gunilla Carlsson warned that the "scope for democracy and pluralism is shrinking in Ethiopia" and Birtukan's incarceration is "a source of great concern."

This week VOA also reported that Meles declared the Ethiopian embassy in Sweden will be the first to close due to economic and diplomatic reasons. Currently, Sweden provides development aid, encourages privatization and supports health initiatives in Ethiopia.
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Comments 19 comments for this article
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Added: October 27, 2011. 02:09 AM GMT
Kalaun Koepke
Added: September 07, 2010. 04:06 AM GMT
Anonymous
Added: September 02, 2010. 10:02 AM GMT
JUDGE MIDEKSA
MAJORITY OF MEDEREK MEMBERS ARE THOSE WHO BENEFITED UNDER MENGISTU REGIME.THEY SIMPLY BURIED THEIR OLD IDEOLOGY AND NOW THEY WON BE OUR DEMOCRATIC REPRESENTATIVES.ITS A JOKE MELES HAS TO DEFEND ETHIOPIAN DEMOCRACY I BELIEVE HE STOOD FOR THE RIGHT CAUSE.MEDEKSA DOESNT REPRESENT THE VERY TRUE NATURE OF ETHIOPIANS. SHE IS TRYING TO FIND A LOOP HOLE TO TRICK THE ETHIOPIAN PEOPLE IN THE LONG TERM.SHE HAS HER MEDREK IDEOLOGY THE SOCIALIST COMMUNIST ONE AT HEART BUT NOT THE RIGHT TIME.
Anonymous
Added: August 30, 2010. 11:13 PM GMT
Please,for get about your poor Politics. Let's talk about our country.Every body get up to work to change Ethiopia.
mimi
Added: August 25, 2010. 02:08 PM GMT
Comprehensive Strategy for Removing Illegal Government
No amount of comment will remove Meles from power; only force will. Thus, instead of wasting time chattering about the evils of the current unpopular and illegal government, the opponents should device a comprehensive strategy that does the work.
Anonymous
Added: August 19, 2010. 07:21 AM GMT
Anonymous
Added: August 16, 2010. 12:27 AM GMT
lol we have a psycho "leader"
so meles said shove it to obama and now he is closing embassies in europe LOL what is next?? he is going 180 back to east (china, communist) and to his teenage days when he loses his temper and throws anything he finds (like his mother said herself)
Chaltu
Added: August 16, 2010. 12:03 AM GMT
Keep doing poly-trickes until it is too late to do right
Keep on doing poly-tricks to the Ethiopian people, Ethiopia, and other countries of reason and decency—a clear sign of non-statesmanship and lack of qualities of leadership. Individuals who happen to be on the pinnacle of power of the country but with no any iota of wisdom, virtue and knowledge for that position.

When a territory is occupied by an opponent army or is potentially to be used, then give that land to a country which is adjacent to that land and let that country takes care of it—then as a gesture of friendship, the government of that country will hunt down any unknown personality in that area which now becomes somebody’s property and hand it to them—which is a kind of quick manual for creating a living environment for themselves only not leading a country and having a concern for it, taking care of it and defend it.

When a relation with a country is becoming irritating towards their political immaturity and the way they do business with their people, then leave the embassy in that country in limbo as if un necessary—pretending to tell to the country that there is nothing they will lose if the embassy is left as such in limbo---point in case –Ethiopian Embassy in America—almost for a year—I am sure they will say something for that but the reason is clear.

When seasoned and mature countries who helped them to consolidate their power for the last several years of their existence, but at the same time have sympathy to Ethiopians and to good politicians who oppose the government, but languish in prison for no reason other than being a strong opponent and loved by the Ethiopian people across the country, then they resort to discontinue diplomatic ties with those countries who demand that..

When a winning vote is opposed by an outsider (even if he is their friend) as false and simply a made up numerical report to say they win, then they resort to expel the person from the country in short notice.

Report a fork lifted sum of annual wealth from donations around the world as growth of economy, without a single person from past years of poverty reported that he/she was well off from it, instead the opposite is happening--

Simply the list is endless --- runaway poly-tricks of this government which eventually are poly-failures.
Anonymous
Added: August 15, 2010. 11:41 PM GMT
Sweeden
Is a feminists State would she be a man not a cock would crow for her.
Swedish men don`t have balls
so their women prefer foreigners(real men).
Anonymous
Added: August 15, 2010. 11:22 PM GMT
@Below Commenter
For the idiots, blind supporters and looters. Here is the Swedish nurses sacrificing to help desperate people in Oromia. But you are telling us that the Sweden has contributed nothing to Ethiopia. Here is the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pd4n72jDvFk&feature=player_embedded .....Watch it you; you bloody liar.
Of course, you may applaud them if they have assisting Tigrians.


Sweden all it is a country that serving its people at all cost, and a successful country as a result unlike the poorest country on the Planet. Sweden is a country where there is almost not relative and absolute poverty, and one of the most equal income distributions. It provides equal as well as comprehensive access to education and health care.

You simple-minded people degrading our country and our people. We are suffering. On the other hand, you are looting and getting rich. Enjoy until right time will come.
Madda
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