Yohannes Buayalew testimony reveals that Dr Ambachew Mekonnen and Ezez Wasse were killed not in the room where there was a meeting in that tragic day
borkena
January 5, 2021
Well over a year after the assassination of Amhara regional State senior leaders, Yohannes Buayalew who was himself a senior officer in the region at the time appeared in court for testimony.
“ I saw a member of Amhara special force who pointed a handgun slam the door open,” he told the court, as reported by DW Amharic service. He was referring to a room where there was a meeting with senior officials of the region including Ambachew Mekonen (president), Ezez Wasse and Migbaru Kebede.
On June 22, 2019, Head of the regional administration (Ambachew Mekonnen), head of Amhara Democratic Party of the region (Yohannes himself) and seven other senior regional authorities were in a meeting at the office of the region’s president when a man in Amhara special force uniform with a pointed handgun slam opened the door around 5 p.m. , he said.
Shocked by the situation, president of the region, his advisor Ezez Wasse and Attorney general of the region Migbaru Kebede moved to the next room. The gunman followed them and a repeated gunshot was heard, he added. Another special force member with AK 47 was seen in the room to where Dr. Ambachew and his colleague moved to. When we entered the room where there was gunfire, we noticed that Dr Ambachew and Ezez were dead, and that Migbaru Kebede, who died later in hospital, was wounded, according to the testimonial.
Yohannes also told the court the situation in the region before the killing including security challenges which led to discussion with security authorities in the region. What he called provocation from TPLF in the part of the region close to Tigray led to training special forces to reverse it.
He also talked about security challenges in urban centers due to what he called informal arrangements — a matter that triggered discussion between the region’s police commission, militia office, peace building officer, special force senior leadership and Amhara Democratic Party leadership. But the outcome of the discussion was not satisfactory, he said.
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