LEWISBURG — LEWISBURG — Ethiopa thinks a Bucknell professor should die for his political activity.
A court in Addis Ababa sentenced associate professor Berhanu Nega to death Tuesday, albeit in absentia, accusing him of being part of a terrorist group and conspiring to assassinate government officials.
Nega, speaking from his office on campus, said it is the government that is fomenting terror, and he is being persecuted for fighting for democracy.
Bucknell spokesman Tom Evelyn said the university would decline to comment.
The death sentence included four other people and called for life in prison for 33, all in connection with activities following the election of 2005, when 200 people died in protests.
What they were protesting, Nega said, was the goverment’s invalidation of an election in which he was elected mayor of Addis Ababa and other pro-freedom candidates were put in office.
Nega did not serve as mayor for even a day. He was sent straight to jail by rulers who said his party, the Coalition for Unity and Democracy, stole the election, he said.
When people protested the government’s action, about 200 were killed.
“They blamed us, called it treason, put us in jail,” Nega said.
He served 21 months in prison while Bucknell faculty joined those working to get him freed.
He was pardoned in 2007 and returned to Bucknell, where he had worked in the economics department from 1990 to 1994.
It was the second time he had to flee the country of his birth. He left in 1980 when Emperor Haile Selassie was overthrown by communists.
“Now a kangaroo court run by these thugs is trying to terrorize people,” Nega said. “It’s because there is an election approaching.”
The government doesn’t want to see a repeat of 2005, when they were ousted, Nega said. “They are trying to intimidate any opposition.”
No one inside the country takes the election seriously, as if it were legitimate, he explained. But the government wants to hold an election for show to placate the West.
“It’s a sham, but it helps them get aid money from the West.”
Nega said he heard about the death sentence Tuesday morning when he was called by a reporter.
“Hundreds are being arrested right now,” he said. “Four hundred in different parts of Ethiopia, so no one will seriously challenge them.”
Although the death sentence is mostly for show, he said, “with this kind of government you never know.”
“I’m betting on the security provided by the United States government more than anything else,” he said.
The sad and somewhat ironic thing, however, he said, is that the U.S. and other western governments are supporting this government in the name of the War on Terror.
The Ethiopian government, which was once communist, now claims to be anti-terror, he said.
“The problem is, after 9/11, the (United States) government turned from anti-communist to anti-terror, and they support anyone claiming to be anti-terror.”
“We are appealing to the government to change its policy toward this brutal regime,” Nega said.
There is a sense, he said, of some beginning to acknowledge what this government really is, that it violates human rights, there is ethnic apartheid going on, and every western country has condemned these abuses.
Nega lives in Lewisburg with his wife, Nardos Minasse, and their two sons, who go to Lewisburg High School. He earned a degree in economics from the State University of New York and a doctorate in economics from the New School for Social Research in Manhattan.
He is a specialist in the economics of development and of African development in particular. He would like to see freedom and democracy hold sway on that continent and in his native country.
Until then, he would not think of going back, even if the death sentence should be lifted.
“Life without freedom is not really life,” he said.
“The only thing I would say to the public in the United States is that its appeal has always been its love of freedom. And freedom is not something that applies to only part of the world. It’s a universal value.
“The U.S. has to be true to its own ideals, and if it can’t directly support democracy, at least supporting dictatorship is contrary to the basic philosophy of the America I know.”
News
Related Photos
-
File photo
Discussion
Bucknell professor sentenced to death in Ethiopa
Ethiopian court claims economist is a terrorist
- News
-
-
Persing wins Republican nod for mayor
Incumbent Mayor David Persing, who fought off repeated allegations in recent months by challenger Julie Brosius, won the Republican nomination by a landslide in Tuesday’s primary election.
-
10 Things to Know for Today
Your daily look at late-breaking news, upcoming events and the stories that will be talked about today:
-
FBI: Man fatally shot in Boston bombing probe
ORLANDO, Fla. — A man being questioned in the Boston Marathon bombing case was shot to death at his home by an FBI agent today after turning violent, officials said.
-
Fire destroys $60G cottage in Union County
WINFIELD — A fire swept through a Winfield home while its occupants were at work Tuesday.
-
2013 Primary Election - Top Races
Unofficial primary election returns
NORTHUMBERLAND COUNTY
Prothonotary/Clerk of Courts
Republican
Justin R. Dunkelberger 2,744
Jamie Saleski 2,124100 percent reporting
Magisterial District Judge
08-3-02, Milton
Republican
Larry Redington 496
Mike Diehl 684
Lisa A. Riley 328
Seth M. Cotner 132
Democrat
Larry Regington 182
Seth M. Cotner 90
Mike Diehl 221Lisa A. Riley 218
100 percent reporting
Sunbury Mayor
Republican
Julie Brosius 200
David L. Persing 378100 percent reporting
Sunbury Treasurer
Republican
Stanley E. Geiswhite 176
Kevin E. Troup 388
100 percent reportingUNION COUNTY
County Coroner
Republican
Tod M. Steese 542
Dominick T. Adamo 1,04963 percent reporting
Gregg Township
Alcohol Sales: Do you favor the granting of liquor license for the sale of liquor in the Township of Gregg?
Yes 82
No 72
100 percent reporting -
Midd-West adopts preliminary budget
Faced with a firm deadline in which to adopt a preliminary budget for 2013-14, the Midd-West school board reversed its vote late Monday night and approved the $32.85 million plan.
-
Police file attempted homicide charge in baseball bat attack
FREEBURG - A Freeburg man, who allegedly attacked two people less than a week after he was released on bail, is now facing attempted homicide charges, according to police.
-
10 Things to Know for Today
Your daily look at late-breaking news, upcoming events and the stories that will be talked about today:
-
Driver, boy, 6, hurt in Route 15 crash
LEWISBURG — A 61-year-old Milton woman and a 6-year-old boy were hurt Monday night when their vehicle hit a guide rail and a concrete barrier before overturning on Route 15, state police at Milton said.
-
Sunbury hospital's operating margin among worst in state
SUNBURY — Sunbury Community Hospital’s 2012 operating margin was among the worst in the state, according to a new report examining the fiscal health of the state’s hospitals.
-
Sunbury woman gets 9-23 months in cocaine sales
SUNBURY — A Sunbury woman will report to the Northumberland County Prison on June 3 for a nine- to 23-month stint for her part in a cocaine ring that police said saw her earning $900 a week from sales.
-
Crews dig through night after deadly Oklahoma tornado
MOORE, Okla. — Spotlights bore down on massive piles of shredded cinder block, insulation and metal as crews worked through the night lifting bricks and parts of collapsed walls where a monstrous tornado barreled through the Oklahoma City suburbs, demolishing an elementary school and reducing homes to piles of splintered wood.
-
Jodi Arias trial wraps for day after series of motions
PHOENIX — Defense attorneys for Jodi Arias asked the judge to remove them from the case and declare a mistrial Monday, arguing the frenzy surrounding the case has created a modern-day witch hunt.
-
U.S. Sen. Casey wants federal probe of fiery tanker crash
HARRISBURG — U.S. Senator Bob Casey wants federal regulators to investigate a fiery tanker crash that caused serious damage at the interchange of Interstate 81 and U.S. Routes 22/322 near Harrisburg.
-
Federal judge weighs fate of governor's lawsuit against NCAA
HARRISBURG — A federal judge in Pennsylvania says she’ll decide in the next couple weeks whether to dismiss Gov. Tom Corbett’s antitrust lawsuit against the NCAA over penalties against Penn State.
-
Police Log
A daily roundup of police news from around the region.
-
Second person reported dead following Oklahoma tornado on Sunday
SHAWNEE, Okla. — Oklahoma’s state medical examiner’s office says a second person was killed by a tornado that leveled a central Oklahoma mobile home park.
-
One person killed, four hurt when van and taxi collide in Monroe County
TOBYHANNA — Authorities say a taxi driver was killed and four firefighters were hurt when the cab crashed into a fire police van in northeastern Pennsylvania.
- More News Headlines
-
Persing wins Republican nod for mayor
