Police shot dead a young political dissident on Wednesday at Rufael, one of the northern suburbs of Addis Ababa.
Four federal police officers dragged Tesfaye Tadesse, 25, from his friend’s home at 9:45 pm and shot him thrice on his chest and twice on his back. His family found his bullet-straddled body latter.
Tesfaye a notable kinijit organizer at his neighborhood had been arrested in June and November 2005 when EPRDF embarked upon massive crack down of dissent in the country. His friends said security men had repeatedly harassed him after he was released from detention in November.
Tesfaye’s autopsy revealed that he had lost three of his front teeth and one eye due to severe beating. The police officers took him to a dark area in the village and beat him, eyewitnesses claimed. “When people living in the village started surrounding the police officers who were beating him, they shot him and drove away,” one witness said.
Tesfaye’s friend from whose home the deceased was taken said that he was instructed to stay at the house when he asked the police officers where they were taking his friend.
Tesfaye is the sixth Kinijit organizer killed in Addis Ababa in the past week.
