Ethiopia, 2009 — military coup conspiracy
Event Summary
This entry is coded 24 April 2009, corresponding to the alleged April 2009 coup plot against Prime Minister Meles Zenawi of Ethiopia, attributed to the exiled opposition movement Ginbot 7. On 24 to 25 April 2009 the government announced it had foiled a plot and arrested about 35 people, saying its security forces had seized weapons, coup plans, and documents. The accused, described as members of Ginbot 7, were said to have planned to assassinate top government officials, incite rebellion within the army, blow up power and telecommunications facilities, and topple the ruling EPRDF government.
Ginbot 7 had been founded in 2008 by Berhanu Nega, the exiled economist and former Addis Ababa mayor-elect, and Andargachew Tsige, in the wake of the disputed 2005 election. Those arrested included General Tefera Mamo and civilian coordinator Melaku Teferra, and the government named Berhanu Nega as the mastermind. In December 2009 the Federal High Court sentenced 40 defendants, five to death including Berhanu in absentia and 33 to life.
Ginbot 7 denied the charges as fabricated repression, and observers doubted that respected retired officers would openly plot in the capital. The 24 April 2009 coding matches the announcement and arrests.
Researched Details
Researched
Independent research, added record by record. Hover any label for what it means.
Sources
Editorial Note
Cross-Reference
Only one dataset carries it. One of the three reference datasets we check against carries this event; the others do not list it. That is not a contradiction — the datasets cover different periods and use different thresholds — but it means the record has had less outside corroboration.
Identifiers for finding this same event in the other datasets:
- Cline Center id
53004242009
How the match is made is described in crossref-report.md.
Outcome and Target
Coup Atlas research identifies the target as: Meles Zenawi's government said it foiled the plot and sentenced dozens, some to death.
Baseline coding: Plot discovered and disrupted before execution. Recorded leader fate: remained in office; not physically harmed. The baseline file does not name individual targets; researched names are kept in a separate layer.
Baseline Dataset Citation
Baseline Source-Document Entries
CSP
Chicago Tribune
The Daily Monitor
New York Beacon
This is the citation trail carried by the baseline dataset, grouped by outlet and rejoined from the line-wrapped original. Coup Atlas has not independently re-checked every document; read the original before citing a specific claim. URLs the import damaged beyond safe repair are shown as plain text and listed in citations-report.md. How this list is built →