Six Ethiopian air force officers sentenced for allegedly attempting to defect to Eritrea

By Borkena

Ethiopian court sentenced six detained members of Ethiopian Air force from three to six years of prison terms, reported ESAT. They were accused of alleged attempt to defect to Eritrea to join rebel forces.

According to ESAT report, regime claimed that Lieutenant Masresha Sete, Lt. Biruk Atnaye, Lt. Daniel Girma, Lt. Gezahegn Dires, Tesfaye Eshete and Seifu Girma were caught in Gonder and Bahir Dar three years ago. They were charged for having, according to regime, links to armed opposition and that “the officers were caught in Bahir Dar and Gondar three years ago while heading to Eritrea to join Patriotic Ginbot 7, an armed group operating from Eritrea,” added the report by ESAT. The officers didn’t plead guilty.

It is to be recalled that members of Ethiopian Air force and ground force defected to Eritrea and other African countries on grounds of ethnic based discrimination and repression within the the army. The latest case of defection is from Agazi forces in Somalia under United Nations mission from where sergeant Hailemichael Bewuketu left to a third country.

Data gathered by researchers in the opposition quarter suggests that Tigray People Liberation Front controlled well over 95 percent of key senior military positions in the army. Wide spread protest in Ethiopia made headlines the world over for months last year.

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