STATEMENT: THE ACQUITTAL OF ZEWDU HAFTU'S KILLERS IS KILLING HER TWICE!
August 12, 2026
On August 5, 2026, the Mekelle Zone Central Court acquitted the two men it had sentenced to life imprisonment a year earlier for killing Zewdu Haftu. Zewdu was thirty-two, out with her friend Semhal Gebregziabiher on a busy street in Mekelle in August 2023, when a vehicle pulled up beside them. She fought off what witnesses describe as an attempted sexual assault; rather than let her go, the driver ran her over. It is important to note that Yared is also accused of killing another young woman named Mulubrhan Mekonnen Welegergis and fully admitted to the charges presented against him. Yared Gebreslase Belay and Angesom Hailemaryiam were convicted of killing Zewdu Haftu and sentenced to life imprisonment on July 11, 2025.
Press Statement, August 12, 2026
