Lawyers for Jawar Mohammed et al said that they are receiving threats and other forms of pressure from various quarters.

A representative of a 13-member joint defense group defending Jawar and 22 other individuals arrested in a relation to a wave of ethnic unrest that followed the murder in June of popular musician Hachalu Hundessa told the BBC Amharic that there is a growing pattern of systematic attempts to intimidate them.

The representative, Misgan Muleta said that the lawyers are being increasingly threatened and harassed for just practicing their profession and defending the cause of their clients. Citing his own experiences as an example, Misgan said that just as he walked out of the court a few weeks ago, he was summoned by the police. “Then as I stepped into the office, the person who served me the summons took my phone and began searching, hurling abuse, and insult at me.” He said he was kept in custody after he was labeled as Shene. (An OLF splinter group in an armed struggle against the federal government in the western part of the country).

He also said that another lawyer who represented clients at the Arada police station in Addis Ababa had been threatened with a gun. In addition, a vehicle belonging to another lawyer was broken into by unknown individuals who confiscated various documents, Misgan told BBC Amharic.

Responding to the accusations, Fekadu Tsega, Deputy Attorney General, said that he has no information on that matter. “But these people are legal professionals. So they know who to report to when they face such problems. So far we have not received any complaints of such kind,” he was quoted as saying. “So far, we are seeing lawyers practicing their profession freely and representing their clients,” Fekadu said. “But if they have such complaints, they can take it to court and ask for redress,” he added.

Image: Fekadu Tsega, Deputy Attorney General with colleague Zinabu Tunu.