Associated Press - November 19, 2009 7:45 AM ET

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AP) - An Ethiopian court on Thursday convicted 26 people who were accused of taking part in an alleged coup plot earlier this year and acquitted five others.

Judge Adem Ibrahim said most of the defendants said they were tortured by police into submitting false testimonies, but the witnesses had not convinced the court of that.

In April, Ethiopia said the suspects were found with weapons, plans and information that linked them to a prominent opposition group started after the country's disputed 2005 elections.

In August, a Pennsylvania economics professor was found guilty in absentia, 1 of 13 previous convictions in the case. Berhanu Nega, who teaches at Bucknell University in Lewisburg, Pa., has denied any involvement.

Berhanu was elected mayor of Addis Ababa in 2005 but was arrested afterward along with more than 100 other opposition politicians and stood trial for treason. He and the others were freed in 2007 in a pardon deal.

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