Skip to main content

ETHIOPIA: Merera Gudina, Ethiopia opposition leader, freed

Huge crowds welcomed Mr merera home

Jailed Ethiopian opposition leader Merera Gudina has been freed after more than a year in detention.
The leader of the Oromo Federalist Congress was released on Wednesday morning and allowed to go home, where he was welcomed by thousands of people.
He has been in prison since December 2016 and was facing charges, including association with terrorist groups.
The Ethiopian government announced on Monday that it would drop charges against more than 500 suspects.
Human rights groups have long accused Ethiopia of refusing to allow opposition groups to operate freely.
The government has denied holding any political prisoners but says the releases will foster national debate and "widen the political sphere".
Those being freed will first undergo two days of "rehabilitation training", the government says.
At the beginning of January, Prime Minster Hailemariam Desalegn announced the government would close Maekelawi - a detention facility in the capital, Addis Ababa, allegedly used as a torture chamber.

Why was Mr Merera arrested?

Mr Merera was arrested in November 2016 at the airport in the capital, Addis Ababa, after he flew in from Brussels.
He had violated Ethiopia's state of emergency by having contact with "terrorist" and "anti-peace" groups, state-linked media reported at the time.
That month, Mr Merera had criticised the state of emergency in an address to the European parliament.
The government imposed it in October 2016 to end an unprecedented wave of protests against its 25-year rule.

More than 11,000 people were arrested, mostly in the Oromia and Amhara regions, which were at the forefront of anti-government protests.
Many in the two regions complain of political and economic marginalisation.

Who else will be freed?

It is still not clear which other politicians will be released.
Ethiopia says it will not free anyone convicted of using force to overthrow the government, destroying infrastructure, murder or causing physical disability.
However, it says it will pardon some of those convicted under the anti-terrorism law.
Critics and human rights groups have accused the government in the past of labelling its opponents, and some journalists, as terrorists.
Rights group Amnesty International says the release of Mr Merera and other prisoners should not be the last.
"Hundreds of prisoners of conscience continue to languish in jail, accused or prosecuted for legitimate exercise of their freedom of expression or simply for standing up for human rights," Amnesty's Netsanet Belay said.
Presentational grey line

Five more high-profile Ethiopian prisoners:

Bekele Gerba, deputy chairman of the OFC - arrested together with Dejene Fita Geleta, secretary-general of OFC, and 20 others in connection with the 2015 Oromo protests that resulted in the death of hundreds of protesters.
Andargachew Tsege, leader of Ginbot 7 (designated a terrorist group by Ethiopia) - arrested in 2014 while on transit in Yemen and taken to Ethiopia, where he faces the death penalty after being convicted in absentia. A British national, human rights groups have been pushing for his release.
Andualem Aragie, vice-president of the Unity for Democracy and Justice party - imprisoned since 2011, and now serving a life sentence on terrorism charges.
Eskinder Nega, journalist and blogger - imprisoned since 2011 after criticising the use of anti-terror laws to silence the press. He was subsequently sentenced to 18 years in jail.
Woubshet Taye, journalist and editor - imprisoned since 2011 and sentenced the next year to 14 years in prison for terror-related offences.

Source : BBC 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Ex-VP Mujuru 'was hit on the cheek with a stone by Zanu-PF activist': Spokesperson

Harare - A Zimbabwean opposition leader and her entourage were Thursday attacked with stones by suspected ruling party activists in Harare, her party said. Joice Mujuru, a former vice president of the country who is now leader of the National People's Party (NPP), and her supporters were pelted while on the campaign trail. Zimbabwe is due to hold general elections before July - the first polls since independence hero Robert Mugabe was ousted after 37 years in power. Mujuru is one of the prominent contenders. Mujuru was hit on the cheek with a stone and later addressed a rally in the working class suburb of Glen Norah after she received medical treatment, her spokesperson said. Mujuru "was going to address a rally ...she passed through a shopping centre and when people realised it was her, they came out of the shops to cheer her", Jeffryson Chitando told AFP. "She got out of her car and greeted the people, and that is when Zanu-PF (activists) started thro...
Post a Comment
Read more

ZIMBABWE : Grace Mugabe heckler dies in car crash, reports say

Harare – Zanu-PF youth leader Magura Charumbira, who made headlines in November after he booed former first lady Grace Mugabe during a Bulawayo interface rally has reportedly died. According to  New Zimbabwe.com , officials confirmed that Charumbira died on Monday morning "after his car crashed into a stationary lorry along the Harare-Bulawayo road near Norton", 40km outside the capital. A  Chronicle report  said that Charumbira was on his way to Harare when the accident occurred.  Charumbira led a group of youths into heckling and booing Grace as she gave her speech during a presidential interface rally in Bulawayo in November.   The incident  angered then president Robert Mugabe who spoke at the same rally  shortly after his wife, accusing his then deputy  Emmerson Mnangagwa  of organising and sponsoring the hecklers. Mugabe vowed at the time to fire Mnangagwa, which he did two days later, in a dramatic move that was seen at the ...
Post a Comment
Read more

SOUTH AFRICAN: Table Mountain climbers: Cape Town rescuers find bodies

The bodies of a tourist and his guide have been recovered from South Africa's Table Mountain following an accident which trapped hundreds of people at the top of the popular attraction. The man, his local guide and a second tourist are reported to have been using ropes to scale the front of the Cape Town mountain when they fell on Monday. Rescuers then used the cable car to reach the surviving climber. But the bodies were not recovered until first light on Tuesday. Africa Live: Read more on this and other stories from around the continent The tourists are understood to be of Asian origin while the guide was a South African, a spokeswoman for South Africa's Sanparks, which runs the country's national parks, told the BBC. According to Table Mountain Cableway, the service - which takes thousands of people up and down the mountain every day - was out of action for about four hours, closing an hour after the group was first spotted. John Marais, of Wilderness Sea...
Post a Comment
Read more