Peter Gill, in his book, Ethiopia and Foreigners: Ethiopia since the Live Aid (Oxford University Press, 2010), discussing the political chaos that followed in the wake of the 2005 election, which, among other things, led to the fragmentation of a major opposition party, CUD, singles out Birtukan Mideksa as a lone leader “who enhanced her stature in this period, and did so from solitary confinement in prison.”

During her trip to Sweden in November 2008, she spoke of “the deal involving signed acknowledgment of guilt in exchange for a pardon which had led to her release.” This naturally provoked the government, ever sensitive to criticism, particularly one coming from such a well-known figure, and irately arrested her on return. In December 2008, Gill, who had an audience with the late Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, narrates what took place as follows,

     [She was arrested]   after meeting with the Ethiopian church minister who was trying to restore peace between government and opposition, she had been begged to retract her original appeal for clemency, but was having none of it. There were scuffles outside the intermediary’s office and it was then that a security man cracked the elderly and redoubtable figure of Professor Mesfin Wolde-Mariam with his rifle butt. Birtukan herself was driven to resume her life sentence…….. In the months afterwards, Birtukan became a focus for national and international opposition to the government……….Whenever he referred to her, Meles displayed the same icy courtesy that he showed towards Anna Gomez, the EU election observer and another woman who had dared to take him on. Here perhaps was the evidence that Birtukan had got under his skin and threatened the smooth progress towards the election of 2010.  Not once during our exchange did he refer to her by name. ‘My starting point is that this lady is not an idiot,’ was how he began and acknowledged her throughout as ‘’this lady” and once as “this intelligent lady.” (p. 171-2).

In a short piece published in a recent issue of Amharic weekly, Feteh, Professor Mesfin Wolde-Mariam writing from Boston pays a glowing tribute to the lady who has been appointed to be head of the election by the present PM, Abiy Ahmed, who has praised her firm commitment to justice in his typically colourful way.

Professor Mesfin had this to say about the firm stance she took in defence of an erstwhile TPLF official, who his comrades charged with corruption, in what was thought to be a trampled-up charge.

“The TPLF council hastily called a meeting and promulgated a new law with no other purpose than reversing the verdict of Birtukan. The sole aim of the law was to violate the rights of the official, which Birtukan defended. As she was committed to doing the right thing, his party affiliation was a matter of absolute difference to her….Satan in vengeance dislodged her from her career as judge….When minions of Satan came for her, I was with her. But I did not prove courageous to take up cudgels for her. Let alone protect her, I did not try to put up resistance, rather throwing myself at the mercy of my captors.

‘’The only thing I said when the security officer hit me in the loin with his rifle butt was utter the words ‘oh, the hero.’ The ignoramus must have taken my words for praise. I was fortunate in that this was the worst abuse they visited on me. But Birtucan was to endure beatings and verbal abuse that went on for several years.

When the people took her away, having struck me by his club, I simply threw in the towel. I was not manly enough to rise to the occasion. I did not even have the courage to act humanly. But she, who is the daughter of Eve, could she have simply stood and watched if it was me that was to be taken away? I don’t think so.

Main Image: Birtukan Mideksa standing with representatives of political parties of the Finnish parliament on December 10. Photo from the Twitter page of Helena Airaksinen, Ambassador of Finland to Ethiopia.

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