Christian Tadele, a member of the House of Representatives and Chairman of the Standing Committee on Government Expenditure, Management and Control, was taken from his home by security forces on Friday evening, August 3/2023. His family confirmed to the BBC Amharic that several policemen wearing federal police uniforms took him from his home in Addis Ababa. According to his family, the police “jumped the fence” and entered their house, taking Mr. Christian and some belongings with them. Mr. Christian’s family also stated that one of the policemen beat him while he was talking to them.
The next day, at around 8:30 AM, other policemen returned to Mr. Christian’s home and conducted a search. It is not known whether his right to immunity as a member of the council was lifted or whether his arrest was related to the state of emergency.
Meanwhile, the Minister of Government Communications, Dr. Leges Tulu, stated in a press conference that action is being taken in connection with the emergency declaration. He said that since last Friday, “we have started arresting the forces that are related to the issue, that are giving deployment, and that are aggravating the problem in different ways.” The executive body of the emergency declaration will announce the measures to be taken in the next few days.
Two days before his arrest, when the crisis in the Amhara region escalated, Ato Christian urged the administration of Abiy Ahmed to “immediately stop the invasion and killing of innocent people” and asked other parties to condemn the act. In recent House of Representatives meetings, he challenged the Prime Minister to “resign” and criticized the ruling party’s management of prosperity. He also wrote articles criticizing the government on social media.
Dr. Kasa Teshager, a member of the Addis Ababa city council, posted on his Facebook page at midnight that he was being told that “those who claim to be policemen come at night and open it!!”.
This is a big no no. According to the law of that country immunity from persecution must be revoked by the majority vote of the House of Representatives before a member is charged or arrested. Am I wrong? Such brazen and wanton action will not help the dire situation there. If this member complained about the regime and some of the steps it has taken, so what? That is one of the jobs he is hired for by the citizens who voted from him. Such action by the government is dangerously reckless. He could have been questioned and even grilled for any alleged wrong doing and expelled with his immunity from persecution revoked if he is found guilty beyond doubt. What is the urgency about his sudden arrest? Was he in ‘possession of a nuclear bomb’? Was he found storing a stock pile of ‘weapon of mass destruction’? I urge the regime to release this family man! Let him go and the parliament do its job according to the constitution. If the regime is going by the state of emergency it declared, well does that include the capital? I heard he was also roughed up by a thug among the law enforcement who came to his residence to arrest him. Come on man! Was this at a lawless rap concert? I am extremely worried about that country now more than ever. Such mob action by the regime’s law enforcement will only make the job of the level head elders who have been working tirelessly to avert an all out civil war in their region. That includes those in Oromia who strive for a peaceful solution devoid of a referendum.