Born in Debre Zeyit, Berhanu attended Addis Ababa University where he participated in the student movement against the ruling Derg government in his freshman year.
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They were arrested on the allegations that this panel incited a student protest at Addis Ababa University the next day, but released on bail 5 June and neither were ever tried.
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However, the October riots led to Berhanu's imprisonment, along with CUD chairman Hailu Shawul, Professor Mesfin Woldemariam, and Former Senior UN Prosecutor Dr. Yacob Haile-Mariam and other leaders of the CUD, as well as a number of civil rights activists and independent journalists.