August 6/2007

SOCEPP OBJECTS TO ILLEGAL EXECUTION OF MAJOR TSEHAYE W.SELLASIE

The regime of Meles Zenawi has executed Major Tsehaye Wolde Sellasie who had been convicted of shooting to death the former security chief Kinfe Gebre Medhin in 2001. The trial of the Major was neither fair nor proper and SOCEPP had objected to this in time.

 The Major did not get due process. His appeal was also rejected due to political considerations. The confirmation ofthe death sentence by the nominal president of State does not hide the fact that the sentence was approved by none other than the real power holder Meles Zenawi. How the sentence was carried out has not also been declared. In addition to the basic objection of the death sentence, the execution of Major Tsehaye is all the more illegal for the main reason that the death of Kinfe Gebre Medhin remains  shrouded in mystery and many quarters allege that the order for his death came from the PM himself and the Major has been used as a fall guy. The trial lacked transparency for the same reason.

It is not a secret that the execution time of the Major is also motivated by political calculations to placate certain quarters interested in the execution. The railroaded Major has been a sad victim of the political machinations of those in power from the beginning to the end. SOCEPP condemns this illegal execution as yet another example of the travesty of justice under the regime of Meles Zenawi. 

SOCEPP