WASHINGTON: An Ethiopian immigrant described as a “torturer” who was arrested last week by American authorities in Colorado, has pleaded not guilty to charges he was involved in torturing political prisoners during the 1970s, a federal defense attorney said. “He denies all of it,” said Matthew Golla, a federal public defender, outside of court. He called his client “Mr. Doe” during the hearing. American federal agents confirmed to Bikyamasr.com on Saturday that the man was arrested last week on charges he tortured political prisoners when he lived in Ethiopia. Three former Ethiopian political prisoners identified him, arguing that he “brutally mistreated them and others in the late 1970s," authorities said. According to officials, the man is now being held on immigration charges over the suspected actions he was part of back in Ethiopia following a military coup that saw the country plunge into uncertainty, arrests and torture and summary executions of political prisoners in the 1970s. The Ethiopia embassy would not comment on the arrest of the man. All three former prisoners, now American citizens living in Denver, Colorado, picked the suspect out of a photo lineup, reports said. “They told investigators that the man they identified as Worku was a guard at a prison in Ethiopia where they were held," said a report by the San Jose Mercury News. According to both the newspaper and federal agents, the alleged torturer was arrested on August 24. He has now been charged with “unlawfully procuring citizenship or naturalization and aggravated identity theft." If he is found guilty, he could face up to 12 years in jail and a fine of as much as $500,000.
