Leaders of the Coalition for Unity and Democracy (CUD), journalists of the "free press" members of the civil society and others, who are facing charges of treason and genocide, among others, declined to enter a plea at their trial on Thursday.

Though most of the defendants refused to plead either guilty or not guilty and preferred to keep silent, the court, the Second Criminal Bench of the Federal High Court, took their silence as a plea for not guilty referring to the country's criminal procedure code.

Only Bedru Adem, CUD member and elected member of parliament, and three members of civil society, spoke out and pleaded not guilty. "I am a prisoner of conscience, not a criminal," Bedru said.

The attorney for the three members of the civil society said the charges against his clients were general and did not specify the time and place any of the commission of the crimes they were charged with.

The court decided to try in absentia 36 defendants who had been summoned by it as they had failed to appear on the trial data. These defendants are mainly based in USA and Europe and have recently issued statements reaffirming their rejection to be tried in an Ethiopian court.

The question of penal majority of one of the defendants, who had argued that he was not fit to stand trial since he was only 13, was settled in favor of the prosecutor. The court said the medical certificate certifying the teenager's real age was true, adding that it could look into the case.