The Assassination of Ethiopian Activist Gezahegn Gebremeskel
The assassination of Ethiopian Activist Gezahegn Gebremeskel
There were no Western sources who have covered the assassination.
Mail and Guardian Article
Ethsat (Ethiopian Source)
Ethiopian activist Gezahegn Gebremeskel was assasinated on Saturday, April 21st in downtown Johannesburg, South Africa.
Gebremeskel (known as Gezahegn Nebro) was a family man who had lived in Johannesburg with his wife and two children after fleeing political persecution in Ethiopia in the late 1990s. He became a pillar for the Ethiopian diaspora community whom arrivals turned to for both practical and financial support.
He too was an outspoken critic of the Ethiopian government, much to the irritation of the Ethiopian embassy in Pretoria.
He believed that Ethiopia is "stifling human rights and democracy," which he tried to express at an Ethiopian embassy event in Johannesburg on the 20th of April which was a meet and greet with a few South Korean business people which Gezahegn was not on the guest list.
His aim was to make a statement through his political activism and later that evening, he had received a text saying: "Why don't you just leave us alone? Just take care of your family otherwise we are going to make a plan for you"
The next day, he was dead.
The Ethiopian embassy has disputed all claims of Gezahegn being forcefully removed from the seminar, stating that: "While the seminar was about to conclude, Mr Gezahegn came to attend the session and was allowed to enter the auditorium without any problems. After a while, he decided to leave the place by his own decision and was saying that he didn't know the event was a training seminar and he was not interested. No one is forcibly removed at all."
However, the public refuses to believe that his assassination was an accident but indeed, was one influenced by the Ethiopian government.
The M&G article has the advantage compared to the Ethsat article as it is able to give a detailed report on the assassination as they have an eyewitness source to confirm the events which happened on Saturday afternoon. This increases the credibility of the article as well as shows the reader a detailed summary of the assassination, which is then explained with the events which occurred prior to the assasination, the families reaction as well as the perspective of the Ethiopian embassy.
However, the Ethsat article seems to be more of an opinion piece which does not give details on the assasination and instead, just states the facts of the assassination and their opinion on Gezahegn Nebro.
There were no Western sources who have covered the assassination.
Mail and Guardian Article
Ethsat (Ethiopian Source)
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| Flowers left by the community in downtown Johannesburg. Source: Paul Botes |
Gebremeskel (known as Gezahegn Nebro) was a family man who had lived in Johannesburg with his wife and two children after fleeing political persecution in Ethiopia in the late 1990s. He became a pillar for the Ethiopian diaspora community whom arrivals turned to for both practical and financial support.
He too was an outspoken critic of the Ethiopian government, much to the irritation of the Ethiopian embassy in Pretoria.
He believed that Ethiopia is "stifling human rights and democracy," which he tried to express at an Ethiopian embassy event in Johannesburg on the 20th of April which was a meet and greet with a few South Korean business people which Gezahegn was not on the guest list.
His aim was to make a statement through his political activism and later that evening, he had received a text saying: "Why don't you just leave us alone? Just take care of your family otherwise we are going to make a plan for you"
The next day, he was dead.
The Ethiopian embassy has disputed all claims of Gezahegn being forcefully removed from the seminar, stating that: "While the seminar was about to conclude, Mr Gezahegn came to attend the session and was allowed to enter the auditorium without any problems. After a while, he decided to leave the place by his own decision and was saying that he didn't know the event was a training seminar and he was not interested. No one is forcibly removed at all."
However, the public refuses to believe that his assassination was an accident but indeed, was one influenced by the Ethiopian government.
The M&G article has the advantage compared to the Ethsat article as it is able to give a detailed report on the assassination as they have an eyewitness source to confirm the events which happened on Saturday afternoon. This increases the credibility of the article as well as shows the reader a detailed summary of the assassination, which is then explained with the events which occurred prior to the assasination, the families reaction as well as the perspective of the Ethiopian embassy.
However, the Ethsat article seems to be more of an opinion piece which does not give details on the assasination and instead, just states the facts of the assassination and their opinion on Gezahegn Nebro.
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