Former Ethiopian leader Mengistu Haile Mariam was found guilty in absentia of genocide today after a 12-year trial of one of Africa's bloodiest governments.
Mengistu, who now lives in Zimbabwe, was accused with top members of his military government of killing thousands during a 17-year rule which began with the toppling of Emperor Haile Selassie in 1974 and included war, purges and famine.
"Members of the Derg (Mengistu's junta) who are present in court today and those who are being tried in absentia have conspired to destroy a political group and kill people with impunity," said the High Court judgement.
''They set up a hit squad to decimate, torture and destroy groups opposing the Mengistu regime," it said.
The genocide verdict, which carries a maximum death sentence, was passed by two votes to one on the three-judge panel. The dissenting judge said the crimes did not fit the definition of genocide.
Mengistu was ousted by guerrillas led by now Prime Minister Meles Zenawi in 1991 and fled to Zimbabwe, where he leads a luxurious though reclusive life.
He was tried in absentia in Addis Ababa with 73 others, including former Prime Minister Fikre Selassie Wogderesse and former Vice President Fissiha Desta.
All were found guilty, except for one, Corporal Begashaw Gurmesa. He was ruled to have opposed the purges while working as a regional administrator and was set free after 16 years in jail. "I am very glad," he said as he was released.
About half the accused were in court, while 14 have died since proceedings began in 1992. Some 25, including Mengistu, are in exile.
In the 1977-78 "Red Terror" campaign, the most notorious of Mengistu's purges, suspected opponents were executed by garrotting or shooting. Bodies were tossed into the streets.