ATLANTA – A jury has convicted Mezemr Abebe Belayneh for fraudulently obtaining U.S. citizenship by lying about his role in persecuting teenagers in Ethiopia for their political opinions.
“The jury’s verdict is aligned with our commitment to holding accountable human rights violators who lie to enter the United States,” said U.S. Attorney Ryan K. Buchanan. “We are grateful for the remarkable effort and perseverance of our law enforcement partners, who sought justice for the courageous victims, several of whom provided testimony of oppressive violence during the trial.”
“The Department of Justice is committed to protecting human rights, and those who commit atrocities will not find safe refuge in the United States,” said Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite, Jr. of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “Thanks to the courage of the victims of these horrible abuses and the persistence of investigators and prosecutors, Mezemr Abebe Belayneh is finally facing justice for the violence he inflicted on young people in Ethiopia 45 years ago.”
“Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) is committed to identifying and apprehending human rights violators who try to evade justice by seeking shelter in the United States,” said Acting Special Agent in Charge Travis Pickard, who oversees HSI operations in Georgia and Alabama. “The United States is not a safe haven for these criminals, and we will never stop looking for them or seeking justice for their victims.”
According to U.S. Attorney Buchanan, the charges and other information presented in court: Mezemr Abebe Belayneh unlawfully obtained U.S. citizenship in 2008 by lying about and concealing that he persecuted and committed acts of violence against political opponents during a period known as “the Red Terror” in Ethiopia. The Red Terror was a campaign of brutal violence in the late 1970s in which Ethiopia’s ruling military council and its supporters detained, interrogated,…
Read the full article here
