A Rebel leader and one of the most sought after men in the country.Now he sits in a mountain village with his satellite phone and plans how the war will continue for the rebels.

a rebel leader and one of the most sought after men in the country.

Now he sits in a mountain village with his satellite phone and plans how the war will continue for the rebels.

The war in Tigray County began last November when the armed wing of the TPLF, the Tigray People’s Liberation Front, attacked a federal headquarters in Tigray Province.

The central government’s revenge attack was supposed to last a few days or weeks, according to Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed.

It will soon be eight months from now, and the fighting in the Tigray War is the fiercest since November.

Also read:

“We are afraid they will come back to kill us all” – Yle’s pictures show the cruelty of the Tigray War in Ethiopia

Getachew Reda is a member of the TPLF, and the goal of the entire war is to find him and other leaders and hold them accountable. Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed calls Geachewa and his colleagues junta and criminals.

Getachew Reda is one of the most sought after people in Ethiopia. Yle journalist Liselott Lindström met him in the mountain village of Tigray. Photo: Yle
The TPLF ruled Ethiopia for nearly 30 years in a violent way. Party forces managed to overthrow the country’s communist government. The party then led a country where human rights violations and the imprisonment of the opposition were part of the basic toolbox.

The TPLF’s term ended after massive protests, with Parliament electing Abiy Ahmed as prime minister in 2018. On Monday, Ethiopia held its first democratic elections in decades. Abyy is expected to make a clear profit.

Now Abiy Ahmed and TPLF are arch enemies.


Young people are now joining large numbers of TDF rebels. Photo: Yle
One reason for that is Abyy’s policy of trying to centralize power away from the states. When Abiy decided to postpone the election last August, Tigray decided to hold state elections anyway. The TPLF received almost all the votes, and the central government did not approve the result.

– We are fighting for the absolute sovereignty of the people of Tigray. But our enemies will not surrender until they have destroyed the entire Tigray people, Getachew says.

Getachew gives an interview in the yard. Next to his leg is a large pile of bullshit. He is constantly on the move so that the government will not find him. Now he is staying in a small village with a farming family. TPLF soldiers are dependent on human help, and they have a lot of support here.


Soldiers move mostly on foot. In the mountainous terrain of Tigray. Photo: Yle
The family’s mother says Eritrean soldiers took everything from them and stayed in the village for weeks. He especially misses his solar panel.

Now there are only TPLF troops in the village. Or actually, they now prefer the acronym TDF, or Tigray Defense Forces. The armed wing of the TPLF is trying to re-brand, and a record number of young people are involved.

TDF appears to have strong support in rural Tigray. For many civilians, war has become a struggle for survival and the survival of the entire nation.

Tehran Tsega Berhan, 20, interrupted his studies to join the rebel forces.

– I’m really sad about this war. I want to fight those who have done this to us. Young people are really inspired and are now joining forces.


Tehran Tsega Berhan joined the troops as early as the age of 18 because she felt the hatred of the Ttigre was unfair. Photo: Yle
The TPLF may well be blamed for blasting a powder keg with a blow to a military base in November.

But the backlash from government forces has been really fierce. There are also Eritrean forces involved in the fight, accused of, among other things, massacres and the use of rape as a weapon.

As many as 90 percent of Tigray’s residents need food aid, and the UN has warned of man-made famine in the region. Soldiers have been accused of deliberately trying to starve Tigray residents by looting and destroying crops and farming opportunities.

Warnings have also been given about ethnic cleansing.

Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto received sharp criticism last week when he spoke of the war as a genocide.

Read here about Ethiopia’s comments:

Ethiopian Foreign Ministry strongly criticizes Pekka Haavisto – comments “irresponsible and non-diplomatic”


TDF troops have solid support in rural areas, where people give them food and space. Photo: Yle
Word choices are a sensitive issue for central government.

In the capital, Addis Ababa, Foreign Ministry President Dina Mufti is outraged when the word war comes up.

– It’s not a war, it’s law enforcement. If anyone has broken the law, they must be punished for not doing so on you?

He says the operation is already over, and now the focus in Tigray is on reconstruction. Just days earlier, dozens of people died in a government airstrike in the village of Tigray.

I will tell you that in Tigray, many said they were starving, and Mufti pauses before the question is asked.

– I can’t verify the information you’ve come across there because I wasn’t there and I didn’t see it, so don’t ask me questions like that, okay? he says.


In the town of Hawzen, food aid was distributed to hungry people. Photo: Luke Dray
I ask what exactly TPLF is being accused of and whether the war is the price the central government is willing to pay for capturing TPLF’s leadership. It will result in the President concluding the interview.

In the mountains of Tigray, there are sounds of heavy warfare.

The fighting takes place about 15 miles away, Getachew says as we walk to look at his troops.

Snipers lie on the ground and stare across the valley. Tehran Tsega Berhan receives soldiers returning from fighting.

A young soldier has had a gunshot wound to his shoulder in battles against Ethiopian government forces. Photo: Yle
A bullet has passed through the young man’s shoulder, and he pains in pain under the tree.

A bullet also hit Tehran in December, but the injury to the hand has already healed.

TDF field hospitals have almost no supplies, Getachew says.

He calls the country’s prime minister and Nobel Peace Prize winner Abiy Ahmedia “semi-illiterate and power-hungry.”

Getachewta is particularly bitten by the fact that Isaias Afwerki, the president of Eritrea, the TPLF’s arch-enemy, has sent troops to the country.

Abiy wants to become a similar regional dictator to Isaiah. But this war means destruction for the Ethiopian state as we know it, he says.

Getachew admits that TPLF made mistakes while in power. However, he definitely insists that the good economic development of Ethiopia has been entirely thanks to them.

The war is mostly about waiting. Some have not used their weapons for a couple of months. Photo: Yle
– We are not criminals, but if someone has accusations, we will be happy to answer them.

The sounds of battles echo across the valley.

– This, what you have now proved, is the first chapter of the end. The next chapters are coming fast and we can’t be stopped. This will soon be over.

TDF troops have reportedly taken over several towns in Tigray this week.

Accelerating fighting does not scare 20-year-old Tehran.

– I’m fighting for my Tiger. I can very well sacrifice my life for it. Many are fighting in foreign countries without any purpose. I have a goal and that’s why I’m not afraid of death, he says.

የችሎት ቀልዶች

⚖️⚖️⚖️ሞባይል ድንጋጤ📞📞📞

በፍርድ ቤት መቆም በብዙ ሰዎች ላይ ያልተመለመደ ድንጋጤን ይፈጥራል፡፡ አንዳንዱ ሲናገር አፉ ይተሳሰራል፡፡ ሌላው የሚናገረው ይጠፋበታል፡፡ በተለይ ሞባይሉን ሳያጠፋ የገባ ባለጉዳይ በችሎት መሐል ሞባይሉ ሲያንቃጭልበት ያ የሚያውቀውን ቀፎ እንኳን በወጉ ለመዝጋት ይደነጋገራል፡፡ በአንድ ወቅት በችሎት ፊት እንደቆመ ድንገት ሞባይሉ ያንቃጨለበት ባለጉዳይ ሞባይሉን ሊዘጋው ቢለው ቢለው ከተፈጠረበት ድንጋጤ የተነሳ እምቢ ይለዋል፡፡ ድንጋጤው ሌላ ድንጋጤ ሲወልድ መታገሉን ተወና ሞባይሉን በመስኮት አሽቀንጥሮ በመጣል ከድንጋጤውና ከዳኛው ግልምጫ ሊያመልጥ ችሏል፡፡

፥፥፥፥፥፥፥፥ገገማ፤ ጠማማ፦፦፦፦፦

የተከሳሽ ጠበቃ የመከላከያ መልሱን ለማሻሻል አቤቱታ ቢያቀርብም በስነ ስርዓት ህጉ መሰረት የክስ አቤቱታ እንጂ የመከላከያ መልስ ማሻሻል አይፈቀድም በሚል ምክንያት ውድቅ ተደረገበት፡፡ ጠበቃው በዳኛው አላዋቂነት በግኗል፡፡
ዳኛው ትዕዛዙን አንብበው እንደጨረሱ ጠበቃው “ጌታዬ!” አለና ዲስኩሩን ጀመረ፡፡ “ጌታዬ እኔ እርስዎን ገገማ እና ጠማማ ብዬ ብጠራዎት ምን ያደርጋሉ?”
ዳኛው በተራቸው በገኑ፡፡ “ምን አልክ አንተ? ሞክረኛ! በችሎት መድፈር የእጅህን አቀምስህና ፈቃድህ እንዲሰረዝ አደርጋለው፡፡” “ቃል ሳይወጣኝ እንደዛ ኖት ብዬ ባስብስ?” ጠበቃው መልሶ ጠየቀ፡፡ “እንደዛ ከሆነ ምንም ማድረግ አልችልም፡፡ የፈለግከውን የማሰብ መብትና ነጻነት አለህ፡፡” ዳኛው ተረጋግተው አረጋጉት፡፡
“እንግዲያውስ ጌታዬ! እርስዎ ገገማ እና ጠማማ ኖት ብዬ እንዳሰብኩኝ በመዝገቡ ላይ ይመዝገብልኝ!”

፥፥፦፦፦የተከበረችዋ ፍርድ ቤቷ፦፥፦፦

በየትም አገር ቢሆን ፍርድ ቤት ይከበራል፡፡ ይህ የፍርድ ቤት ክብር ጉዳይ ለብዙ ሰዎች ምቾት አይሰጣቸውም፡፡ በተለይ በኛ ሀገር አብዛኛው ሰው የፍርድ ቤት ክብርን የሚያያይዘው ከፍርሀት ጋር ነው፡፡ ሆኖም ፍርድ ቤት በወጉና በስርዓቱ ዳኝነቱን እንዲያከናውን ሊከበር እንጂ ሊፈራ አይገባውም፡፡ ይኸው የፍርድ ቤት ክብር ተምሳሌታዊ በሆነ መልኩ ከሚገለጽበቸው መንገዶች አንዱ በክርክር ወቅት ፍርድ ቤት የሚጠራበት የአክብሮት ስያሜ ነው፡፡
በብዙ አገራት my lord! Your honor! እያሉ መጥራት የተለመደ ነው፡፡ በአገራችንም እስከ ቅርብ ጊዜ ድረስ ጌታዬ! እያሉ ሙግት መጀመር እንዲሁ የተለመደ ነበር፡፡ በአሁኑ ወቅት በጣም ተቀባይነት ያገኘው አጠራር “ክቡር ፍርድ ቤት” ወይም “የተከበረው ፍርድ ቤት” የሚል ነው፡፡
አንዳንድ ባለጉዳዮች “ክቡር ዳኛ” ማለት ቢያዘወትሩም ይህ አጠራር ግን ለክቡር ዳኞቻችን ብዙም አይመቻቸውም፡፡ አንዳንድ ምንም ዕውቀቱ የሌለው ወይም ግብረ-ገብነት ያልገባው ባለጉዳይ ደግሞ “አንተ” ወይም “አንቺ” የሚልበት አጋጣሚ ቢኖርም ይህ አጠራር ግን ለዳኞች ፈጣን ተግሳፅ ይዳርጋል፡፡
በአንድ ወቅት ስለ ፍርድ ቤቱ አጠራር ግራ የተጋባ የሐረርጌ ሰው ከአንድ ሴት ዳኛ ፊት ይቀርባል፡፡ ዳኛዋ በዕድሜ ወጣት ሲሆኑ አለሳበሳቸውም ለእርስዎ አይመችም፡፡ ታዲያ “ክቡር ፍርድ ቤት” የሚለው አገላለፅ ለተባዕታይ ፆታ መስሎት “የተከበረችዋ ፍርድ ቤቷ” በማለት ክርክሩን ጀምሯል፡፡

ሠ እና ብ፣

ዐቃቤ ህግ የወንጀል ድርጊት ፈጽመዋል ባላቸው ሁለት ግለሰቦች ላይ ክስ አቅርቦ ሁለቱም ተከሳሾች ከቀጠሮው ቀን በፊት በቁጥጥር ስር ውለው በፖሊስ ታጅበው ችሎት ቀርበዋል፡፡ ፍርድ ቤቱ የወንጀሉን ክስ ከመነበቡ በፊት ክሱ የደረሳቸው መሆኑን ይጠይቃቸዋል፡፡ ሁለቱም በአዎንታ መልስ ይሰጣሉ፡፡ በመቀጠል ዳኛው ማንነታቸውን ለማረጋገጥ በክሱ ላይ የተቀመጠውን የአንደኛ ተከሳሽ ስም መጥራት ጀመሩ፡፡
“ሠሩክ? ሠሩክ አንተ ነህ?”
1ኛ ተከሳሽ—“ሠሩክ አይደለሁም፡፡ ስሜ ብሩክ ነው፡፡” በዚህ ጊዜ ዳኛው ወደ ዐቃቤ ህግ ዞረው ምንም ሳይናገሩ መልስ ፍለጋ በሚመስል አመለካከት ማየት ጀመሩ፡፡ ክሱን ቀድሞ ባለማንበቡ ትንሽ የሐፍረት ስሜት የተሰማው ዐቃቤ ህግ ነገሩን በማቅለል “አዎ የተከበረው ፍርድ ቤት እነዚህ ፀሐፊዎች የፈጠሩት ስህተት ነው፡፡ በዛ ላይ ትንሽ የስራ ጫና አለብኝ፡፡” ዳኛው ግን ስህተቱን እንደቀላል አላዩትም፡፡ “ክሱን ከማቅረባችሁ በፊት አታነቡትም እንዴ?”
ዐቃቤ ህግ “ያው አንዳንዴ እንዲህ ዓይነት ስህተት ይፈጠራል፡፡” ዳኛውም “ተከሳሹ እኮ ብሩክ ነው፡፡ እናንተ ክሱ ላይ ሠሩክ ብላችሁ ነው የፃፋችሁት፡፡ ተከሳሹ እሱ ስለመሆኑ እንዴት ይታወቃል? ስለዚህ ክሱ መሻሻል አለበት፡፡” በማለት ዐቃቤ ህግ ክሱን እንዲያሻሽል አዘዙ፡፡ ይሄኔ ነው አስቂኝ የችሎት ምልልስ የተጀመረው፡፡
ዐቃቤ ህግ—“ክቡር ፍርድ ቤት ብ ይጨምርልኝ፡፡ ነገሩ ቀላል ነው፡፡”
ዳኛ—“ቀላል አይደለም፡፡ በስነስርዓት ህጉ መሠረት ክሱ መሻሻል አለበት”
ዐቃቤ ህግ—“ኧረ የተከበረው ፍርድ ቤት ብ ን ይጨምራት”
ዳኛ—“ክሱ መሻሻል አለበት”
ዐቃቤ ህግ—“ለ ብ ተብሎ ብ ብትጨመርልኝ ምናለበት?”
ዳኛ—“ክሳችሁን መጀመሪያውኑ አስተካክላችሁ ማቅረብ ነበረባችሁ”
ዐቃቤ ህግ—“ገብቶኛል ብ ነች እኮ!”
ዳኛ—“አይ አይሆንም ክሱ መሻሻል አለበት”
ዐቃቤ ህግ—“ወይ ጣጣ ለ ብ?”

፥፥፥፥፥፥፥ ዳር ዳሩን፣ ፦፦፦፦፦፦፦

በአንድ የአስገድዶ መድፈር ወንጀል መዝገብ የግል ተበዳይ የዐቃቤ ህግ ምስክር ሆና ቃሏን እየሰጠች ነው፡፡ ዐቃቤ ህግ ዋና ጥያቄ ሲጨርስ ተከሳሽ መስቀለኛ ጥያቄ እንዲጠይቅ ዕድል ተሰጠው፡፡
ተከሳሽ——“ቆይ ግን አንቺ “ዳር ዳሩን ንካ ወደ ውስጥ ግን እንዳትገባ” አላልሽኝም?”
ምስክሯ እየተቅለሰለሰች “እንደዛማ ብዬሃለው!”
በዚህ ጊዜ ተከሳሹ ወደ ዳኛው ዞር አለና ክሱን የረታ ያክል ፊቱ ላይ ድል እየተነበበት “የተከበረው ፍርድ ቤት ልብ ይበልልኝ! ችሎቱም ያውቀዋል፡፡ እዛ ደርሶ ማን ይመለሳል?”

፦፦፦ከአክስትህ ጋር ዝምድና አለህ?፦፦፡፡

በፍርድ ቤት በሚደረግ ክርክር አንዳንድ አስቂኝ ጥያቄዎችና መልሶች ለፍርድ ቤቱ እንግዳ ከሆኑ ምስክሮችና ተከራካሪ ወገኖች ብቻ ሳይሆን በህግ ሙያ ከተካኑት ጠበቃዎችና ዳኞች አፍ ጭምር አምልጠው ይወጣሉ፡፡
በአንድ ወቅት አንድ ምስክር ዳኛው ፊት ቀርቦ ቃለ መሓላ ከፈጸመ በኋላ ለተለመዱት የመግቢያ መደበኛ ጥያቄዎች መልስ መስጥት ይጀምራል፡ ዳኛው ስም፤ ዕድሜ፤ አድራሻና ስራ ካጣሩ በኋላ
“ተከሳሽን ታውቃታለህ?” ሲሉ ጠየቁት፡፡
ምስክሩም “አዎ አውቃታለው አክስቴ ነች” በማለት መለሰ፡፡
በመቀጠል ዳኛው ቀጥሎ መቅረብ ያለበትን የተለመደ ጥያቄ ከተከሳሹ ምላሽ አንጻር ሳያስተካክሉ “ከተከሳሽ ጋር ጠብ ወይም ዝምድና አለህ?” በማለት ጥያቄውን እንደወረደ አቅርበውለታል፡፡

መሪ ጥያቄ፣

በወንጀል ጉዳይ ተከሳሹ ቀርቦ የዐቃቤ ህግ ምስክሮች እየተሰሙ ነው፡፡ ከምስክሮቹ መካከል አንደኛው የወንጀሉን ድርጊት ተከሳሹ ራሱ እንደፈጸመውና ይህንንም በዓይኑ እንዳየ በመግለጽ ቃሉን ይሰጣል፡፡
ዋና ጥያቄ ካለቀ በኋላ ዳኛው ተከሳሹን “የመስቀለኛ ጥያቄ አለህ?” ሲሉ ጠየቁት፡፡
ተከሳሹም “አዎ” ካለ በኋላ ምስክሩን “ድርጊቱን ስፈጽም አይተኸኛል” ሲል ይጠይቀዋል፡፡
ምስክር— “አዎ አይቼሃለው”
ተከሳሽ– “እሺ በወቅቱ ምን ለብሼ ነበር?”
ምስክር— “ከላይ ጃኬት ከስር ጨርቅ ሱሪ!”
ተከሳሽ— “ምን ዓይነት ጃኬት?”
ምስክር— “ምን ሌላ ጃኬት አለህና ነው ያው ያችኑ ቀዳዳ ቡኒ ጃኬት ነዋ!”

አስተማሪ የሆኑት የችሎት ድራማ ቪዲዮዎች