EDITORIAL

WELCOME SEYE ABRAHA: JUSTICE LONG OVERDUE

By Tecola W. Hagos

There is no question that Seye Abraha was a victim of Meles Zenawi and the Mahel Sefaris. The Mahel Sefaris who are now Meles Zenawi's "elfign askelkies," effectively demonized Seye Abraha and other truly national heroes starting in 1991 in collaboration with a small band of double agents by labeling such heroes as narrow ethnicists accusing them of working for the supremacy of a narrowly defined Tygrei nation. Nothing could be further from the truth. Seye fought for Ethiopia at great sacrifice to his family (father executed by Mengistu's thugs, brothers dying fighting for freedom). It is not without reason that Berhanu Nega, the leader of the Opposition held him with such high regard. It is also true of Tamrat Lyne, another victim of Meles Zenawi and the Mahle Sefaris, who refused to implicate in a concocted corruption case that the Government of Meles Zenawi tried in vain to implicate Seye as participant. To the great credit of Tamrat Lyne, he refused to cooperate with Meles Zenawi's hired guns and suffered more as a consequence.  

I have pointed out repeatedly the real enemies of the people of Ethiopia (and that of Tygreai in particular) were and still are Meles Zenawi and his Mahel Sefari collaborators. Meles Zenawi is a brutal dictator, an individual who suffered extreme form of inferiority complex born from his childhood ostracism of his family from the Community of the small provincial town of Adowa due to his family's notorious connection to the occupying forces of Italy and later, after the restoration of the Ethiopian Monarchy, the family's patriarch's involvement as an agent of Haile Selassie's Government spying against patriotic Tygreans from the area who fought against Italy's occupation army and their collaborating bandas from the region.

Seye Abraha is now stepping into a drastically changed Ethiopia. The political forces in play from some seven years ago are no longer in familiar formations. What we have now is an Ethiopia full of traps, pitfalls, double agents, despicable characters, et cetera in much more abundance than before seven years ago. For great political symbols such as Seye, it is a time where even a best friend, a wife or a husband, even ones own confessor cannot be trusted. This is where a great hero, such as Seye Abraha, may be at great risk losing his or her credibility if he or she starts associating in any form with the current Meles Zenaei's Government. At a time of declining credibility, and mounting evidence of treason and betryal [read Sebhate Nega's interview], human rights violations, political murder and torture, holding a nation hostage, international involvement beyond the capacity of a poor nation, massive corruption and fraud on the citizens of Ethiopia et cetera committed and perpetuated by the current Government of Meles Zenawi, it is a political suicide for any respected Ethiopian to be associated with Meles Zenawi or his political Party.

For Seye Abraha and other similarly situated Ethiopians, there may be a too human desire to lash out indiscriminately against real and perceived enemies. Caution and wisdom of magnanimity and tolerance must be the guiding principles for individuals such as Seye Abraha who are freed from the clutches of Hell. Being incarcerated and surviving in the Ethiopian prison system is not that easy for anyone.  For individuals who served the people of Ethiopia with their blood and flesh as Seye did, it is even more so excruciating to be imprisoned by a traitor leader and his Mahel Sefari collaborators. The best rout to follow for Seye Abraha and similarly situated individuals is to remove themselves from Addis Ababa and live elsewhere, but be engaged with political goals and be an active player in the process of change long overdue in Ethiopia. Welcome, Seye Abraha, to freedom and a future you may yet shape.

Tecola W. Hagos

Washington DC

July 13, 2007