Addis Abeba — A coalition of nine Tigrayan civic and gender-justice advocacy organizations has demanded an immediate appeal of the acquittal of two men previously sentenced to life imprisonment for the killing of 32-year-old Zewdu Haftu, saying the reversal was issued without the original digital evidence ordered by a higher court ever being produced and examined.
In a statement issued on 12 August, the organizations said the Mekelle Zone Central Court acquittal of two convicts - Yared Gebreslase Belay and Angesom Hailemaryiam - on 5 August, one year after sentencing them to life imprisonment for Zewdu's killing is "killing her twice."
"The acquittal of Zewdu Haftu's killers is killing her twice!" the coalition said.
Discover moreNewspapersPolitical commentary blogEthiopian election coverage Zewdu was brutally killed on 19 August 2023 while walking with her friend, Semhal Gebregziabiher, in Mekelle. Witnesses said she resisted an apparent sexual assault before being dragged and fatally run over by a vehicle.
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The two men were convicted on 11 July 2025 after a trial that had already drawn scrutiny over courtroom disruptions, alleged pressure on judges and the prolonged detention of Semhal, the sole surviving eyewitness.
The Tigray Supreme Court upheld the conviction, but the Cassation Bench sent the case back after the original phone evidence used in the prosecution was reportedly missing from the appellate file.
Media freedom advocacy The Cassation Bench ordered the original evidence to be produced and examined by a qualified expert. According to the civic groups, that order was not fulfilled despite five months and at least eight hearings.
Discover moreIndependent media supportDownload Interactive MapsJoin Diaspora NetworksPolitical science coursesNews subscription servicepoliticalEthiopian culture magazinePolitical imprisonment memoirs "The Tigray Police Commission repeatedly told the court an order had been delivered while nothing arrived," the statement said.
The coalition said that a scanned copy was subsequently used in place of the original, followed by a copy held by the prosecutor. Authorities also sought to substitute a Tigray-based expert for the federal expert ordered by the Cassation Bench.
On 27 July, a police officer reportedly provided clarification on the written evidence instead of the expert testimony ordered by the Cassation Bench. Nine days later, the court acquitted both defendants without requiring them to answer the evidence.
Political imprisonment memoirs The groups said the reversal was therefore not based on new evidence establishing the defendants' innocence.
The handling of the evidence has also raised concerns about a potential conflict of interest involving Tigray Police Deputy Commissioner Colonel Gebreselassie Belay, who is the father of Yared.
The coalition alleged that in May 2024, Colonel Gebreselassie invoked his official position and intimidated an investigator who had sought to keep a suspect in custody in connection with the case. The police unit involved reportedly filed a written complaint at the time.
"Twice, in the same case, his institution's conduct has broken the same way," the organizations said, referring to the alleged 2024 interference and the subsequent failure to produce the evidence ordered by the Cassation Bench.
The coalition is calling for Colonel Gebreselassie to be removed from his post while an independent body investigates the alleged interference and the police commission's handling of the evidentiary order.
The statement also revisited earlier concerns surrounding the treatment of Semhal, spent more than eight months in detention without charge after being removed from hospital.
The trial itself was disrupted in May 2025, when a disturbance prevented the public prosecutor from delivering sentencing. The Tigray Public Prosecutors Association subsequently described the incident as a severe security threat to prosecutors and judges. Mekelle's courts suspended judicial services days later.
"Neither call for accountability was answered," the coalition said.
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The nine organizations are also demanding that the original National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS) phone evidence and the qualified federal expert ordered by the Cassation Bench be produced.
"Not a scanned copy or a police officer's clarification," they said.
The coalition is further calling for written protection guarantees for Zewdu's sister Birtukan Haftu, Semhal, and all judges, prosecutors and investigators involved in the case.
It has also called on UN Women and the UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls to conduct what it described as a "full public accounting" of the reversal.
The signatories are Gorzo - A Movement to Empower Women, Solidarity of Tigrayans for Independence and Liberty (STIL), Gender Empowerment Movement Tigray (GEM Tigray), Umbrella For The Needy, Empowered Sisterhood, Ethio-Tracing Missing Persons, Hndeke Show, Sheba Podcast, and Yikhono: A Movement To End Gender-Based Violence.
"This coalition does not consider the matter closed," the organizations said.
