Ethiopia ex-ruler Mengistu found guilty of genocide

Mengistu Haile Mariam

ADDIS ABABA, Dec 12 (Reuters) - An Ethiopian court found exiled former ruler Mengistu Haile Mariam guilty in absentia of genocide on Tuesday, ending a 12-year trial.

Mengistu, who now lives in Zimbabwe, was accused with top members of his Marxist military government of killing thousands during a 17-year rule which began with the toppling of Emperor Haile Selassie in 1974 and included war, purges and famine.

"Members of the Derg (Mengistu's military junta) who are present in court today and those who are being tried in absentia have conspired to destroy a political group and kill people with impunity," presiding Judge Medhen Kiros said in court.

The genocide verdict, which carries a death sentence, was passed by two votes to one on the three-judge panel.

Mengistu fled to Zimbabwe in 1991 after he was ousted by guerrillas led by now Prime Minister Meles Zenawi.

He was tried in absentia in Addis Ababa with 73 others, including former prime minister Fikre Selassie Wogderesse and former vice-president Fissiha Desta.

Some 40 officials are in jail while 27 are being tried in absentia. A few have died since proceedings began in 1992 and the trial formally started in 1994.

Source: Reuters