Thank you very much.
Honourable representatives of the Canadian Parliament, I wish to thank you for your current interest in Ethiopia and thank you for the enormous support you have given Ethiopia over the years. I will begin with the story of the arrest of our party leader, Mr. Eskinder Nega, in July of last year.
Eskinder started his day early as usual. He was concerned with news of the Hachalu Hundessa assassination the night before. By the end of the day, he decided to write a press release condemning ethnic violence in Ethiopia and the killing of the singer.
The next day, after handing the letter over to be printed, he went to his office. In what seemed to be less than half an hour armed soldiers had arrived to arrest Eskinder without any warrant or explanation. The armed soldiers forced him out of the office and threw him in a vehicle waiting outside. Neighbours and passersby watched as he was beaten and hauled away.
Another party leader, Sentayehu Chekol, was arrested on his way home later that day. The government news outlets later announced that Eskinder and his colleagues had been arrested for inciting violence in Addis Ababa. Eskinder is a recipient of numerous international honours and awards.
This is the whole story. It is clear to me that the government arrested Eskinder for the following few reasons: to silence the voice of the abused and oppressed; to silence the voice of our national heritage and undermine our values; to stop Eskinder from openly participating in the upcoming election and to weaken his party; to create an atmosphere of fear to discourage participation in the election, and to discourage political activism and leadership; and to stop him from being a voice for Addis Ababans.
Having said this, I ask the Canadian Parliament to reject any politically motivated charges against Eskinder Nega and his colleagues.
As per my information from Addis Ababa, while his subordinates visited him in person, he asked them to tell his story and urge the international community to condemn ongoing threats of genocide and displacement in Ethiopia. He further asked that we all work to condemn any politically motivated arrests of either him or his colleagues.
Dear honourable Canadian Parliament representatives, besides Eskinder’s arrest, the Balderas for True Democracy party is under political repression in Ethiopia. Just to cite a recent politically motivated incident, our party has asked to hold a peaceful public demonstration to condemn ethnic violence and genocide in Ethiopia, to condemn border conflicts between Ethiopia and Sudan, to condemn inequalities of ethnic groups in Addis Ababa, and to condemn the politically motivated arrest of Eskinder and his colleagues. However, the city government of Addis Ababa prohibited the demonstration. Two days later there was a huge demonstration across Oromo region to show support for Abiy Ahmed. Balderas has no right to hold any demonstration but the ruling party has every right to do all, and it's not the first time it has done this. It has happened so many times.
Dear honourable Canadian Parliament representatives, why are these political leaders detained? Why shouldn't they be released? What is the importance of political instability in Ethiopia to the international community? Balderas political leaders are unjustly imprisoned for defending and promoting fundamental freedoms and equality for all.
The government wants to keep them in prison for an extended period to hold elections without them. As evidence of proof, during the court process of the past seven months, the government has repeatedly and—
