Mengistu Haile Mariam, former Ethipian head of state, sentenced to death

Ethiopia’s former head of state, Mengistu Haile Mariam, has been sentenced to death in absentia by the country’s supreme court. Mengistu who has been hiding in Zimbabwe since 1991 following his overthrow was sentenced to life in prison last year. But the judge said the new sentence is in line with the torture and execution of tens of thousands during Mengitsu’s “Red Terror” rule – during which intellectuals and and political opponents were butchered — , thus revoking a leniency appeal from the defendants.