Addis Ababa, Thursday
The European Union criticised Ethiopia today for flaws in bitterly-contested elections that have given Prime Minister Meles Zenawi a second term.
In a report published in Addis Ababa, an EU election observer mission listed a catalogue of irregularities in the May 15 poll and the lengthy counting-process that followed, including unnecessary delays and intimidation of opponents.
In one case, a witness to opposition allegations of fraud, Wudu Amelegn, was assassinated days after testifying to a complaints investigation panel, the report said. <snip>
"In several important aspects, international standards for genuine democratic elections were not met." Unrest over alleged vote-rigging led to the police shooting dead at least 36 protesters and arresting thousands more in June. <snip>
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