Mengistu handed life sentence

ADDIS ABABA – An Ethiopian court spared former dictator Mengistu Haile Mariam from the death penalty yesterday, sentencing him to life in prison for genocide during his brutal 17-year reign.

Mengistu, now nearing 70, is unlikely to serve any prison time because he is exiled in Zimbabwe and the government there said it would not extradite him. After a 12-year trial, Mengistu was found guilty in absentia last month of killing thousands of people during his years in power, which began with ousting Emperor Haile Selassie in 1974 and included war, brutal purges and famine.”Considering the age of the accused …and the state of their health …the court has rejected the prosecution’s call for the death penalty and passed life imprisonment,” a panel of judges told the court in Addis Ababa.”The court also decided that passing the death sentence on people who are aged and suffering from sickness could not be considered as jurisprudence but rather as a vendetta.”Mengistu fled to Zimbabwe in 1991 after he was toppled by guerrillas led by now Prime Minister Meles Zenawi.Zimbabwe’s acting Minister of Information and Publicity Paul Mangwana said the sentence “does not change anything”.Seventy three others stood trial in Addis Ababa in the case with Mengistu, including former Prime Minister Fikre Selassie Wogderesse and former Vice-President Fissiha Desta.All were found guilty, except for one in the trial that begun in 1994.Fourteen of the accused have died since proceedings began in 1992, while 25, including Mengistu, are in exile.The grey-haired, mainly former military officers smiled when the sentences, ranging from 25 years to life, were passed.Nampa-ReutersAfter a 12-year trial, Mengistu was found guilty in absentia last month of killing thousands of people during his years in power, which began with ousting Emperor Haile Selassie in 1974 and included war, brutal purges and famine.”Considering the age of the accused …and the state of their health …the court has rejected the prosecution’s call for the death penalty and passed life imprisonment,” a panel of judges told the court in Addis Ababa.”The court also decided that passing the death sentence on people who are aged and suffering from sickness could not be considered as jurisprudence but rather as a vendetta.”Mengistu fled to Zimbabwe in 1991 after he was toppled by guerrillas led by now Prime Minister Meles Zenawi.Zimbabwe’s acting Minister of Information and Publicity Paul Mangwana said the sentence “does not change anything”.Seventy three others stood trial in Addis Ababa in the case with Mengistu, including former Prime Minister Fikre Selassie Wogderesse and former Vice-President Fissiha Desta.All were found guilty, except for one in the trial that begun in 1994.Fourteen of the accused have died since proceedings began in 1992, while 25, including Mengistu, are in exile.The grey-haired, mainly former military officers smiled when the sentences, ranging from 25 years to life, were passed.Nampa-Reuters