An Ethiopian court has sentenced five people to death and 33 others to life in prison for planning to assassinate¹ government officials.

埃塞俄比亚某法庭以计划暗杀政府官员判处5人死刑、33人终身监禁。

Exiled politician Berhanu Nega denies leading an armed struggle

Prosecutors² had said the convicted已被判刑的 were part of the Ginbot 7 (15 May) group led by Berhanu Nega, a US-based dissident持不同政见者.

He was among those sentenced to death, as was opposition³ leader Melaku Tefera.

Mr Melaku was present in the Addis Ababa courtroom with 27 other accused. Some of the defendants⁴被告 have said they were tortured into confessing供认，忏悔.

Convicting the men in November, Judge Adem Ibrahim said the court had not been convinced of the torture allegations.

The authorities have said they found weapons, including land mines, at the men's homes when they were arrested in April.

Army officers sentenced

"The... five have committed grave offences攻击，违反 and four of them have not learnt from their previous sentences," said Judge Adem passing down the sentences.

"Therefore, we have been been obliged to不得不 give the most severe sentences."

Relatives of the men broke down in the courtroom as the sentences were read out, says the BBC's Uduak Amimo in Addis Ababa.

The death sentences were reserved for what the court called the political leaders of the plot, while those sentenced to life imprisonment⁵ were active or former military officers, AFP news agency said.

Lawyers for the defence said they would appeal.

Andergachew Tsege, secretary general of Ginbot 7 and one of those sentenced to death in absentia缺席, told the BBC's Focus on Africa programme the ruling was not unexpected.

"It is not surprising to us and probably to the people of Ethiopia," he said.

"We know the price of freedom - the preservation⁶ of rights always forces us to pay sacrifice and if that sacrifice means to be sentenced to death, so be it."