Policemen in Mekelle have today roughed up and arrested people who took to the streets to call for what they call a radical change.
Videos and pictures of demonstrators who had been bloodied and bruised have surfaced on social media platforms.
Prominent leaders of opposition parties and journalists have also been reportedly arrested by Tigray security officers.
Covenant for a radical change
A coalition of three opposition parties – Tigray Independence Party, Salsay Weyane Tigray, and National Congress of Greater Tigray – on August 30 wrote a letter to the Tigray interim administration to notify it that they would hold a protest in Mekelle on September 7.
The letter stated that the protest – themed “a covenant for a radical change” – would be the first of its kind and would call for radical change in Tigray politics.
The Tigray administration promptly replied saying that although it agreed with the principle of protest, it wouldn’t be able to provide security as the police would be overstretched owing to the fact that the date chosen was around the eve of new year’s celebrations.
The opposition parties said it was a deliberate attempt to prevent the protest from happening and said that it would go as planned anyway.
There have been simmering tensions between the two ever since.
In what appears to be an attempt to scare potential protesters off, Tigray security officers had arrested some of the organisers ahead of time. As though to diffuse the tension and mollify potential protesters, the president of the interim administration, Getachew Reda, yesterday appeared on TV to say that the organisers should consider holding a protest another time.
Tension boil over
The government’s determined attempt to quash the protest seems to have partially worked, as it does not appear more than a couple of dozens of people have made it to the protest site. But still, those who have made it appear to have found themselves at the receiving end of police brutality. One of the people who have been beaten up by the police is Zemas Tsigab, an activist and a journalist. Another one is Tedros Belay, an activist and staunch critic of the interim administration. A footage doing the rounds on social media shows policemen beating him up with batons despite him not threatening to be violent. Makda Akelom, who says she was at the site of the protest, said she too was roughed up by the police and has posted a picture with a bruised leg.
Radical change
The opposition parties have been saying that the interim administration has failed to deliver on any of its promises, from returning Tigrayan territories under the forceful occupation of Amhara and Eritrean forces to reining in on the deteriorating law and order. They attribute the alleged failure to a corrupt and paralysed political system. They having been calling on people to take to the streets to bring about what they call a radical change. Today’s protest was a part of that effort.
Borkena, Fanno, and Andargachew are Tsige terrorists
September 10, 2023 at 12:25 pm
Breaking News:
Israel has finalized its task to deport Shabiya-supporting fake refugees, and all western countries should do the same and help these criminals land safely and meet the octogenarian dictator in his embellished palace with red carpet treatment.
In the first place, how do Shabiya supporters of Eritrean origin manage to acquire refugee status while vulnerable individuals, such as underage minors and women with children, are being forcefully expelled from each host country or sent back to their homeland under the pretext of coming from safe nations? This is glaring evidence of hasty generalization within the European or western immigration system, made servants of Eritrean dictators to enjoy the best of both worlds in exchange for mass human trafficking that enables Europe to exploit cheap human labor with the pretext of asylum and refugees. The Eritrean dictator has nothing to offer the planet except victims of human trafficking, cheap labor exploitation, etc.
On account of the crucial role of the Eritrean totalitarian regime in exacerbating the global human trafficking index under the pretext of refugees and asylum seekers, Europe and entire wealthy nations are paying tribute to Octogenarian dictator Isayas by allowing his riffraff spies to enjoy the best of both worlds by giving refugee status while deporting vulnerable people under the pretense of safe country origin.
Fanno, which is plundering the properties of non-Amahar people within and outside the Amhara region, must be expelled and its moves must be contained before they get worse. Fanno is a genocider of Oromos, Tigrayans, and all Ethiopians. No one should support these criminals, rapists, and killers of children and priests. Cannot be forgotten at all.
— Borkena, Zehabesha DOT COM , Ethio 360 staaff ,Fanno, and Andargachew are Tsige terrorists —-
Weyane leaders must step down and should stop torturing any Tigrayan regadless of his political standing. Criminal Tigrayans killing innocent peopleand harrasing women should be locked up for ages.