In Ethiopia, some of the political prisoners amnestied on Friday January 7 by the Prime Minister have already been released from prison. Abiy Ahmed took advantage of the Christmas ceremonies in Ethiopia to pardon the main opposition figures who had been behind bars for a year and a half. The authorities accused them of terrorism. Their release coincides with the Ethiopian government’s national reconciliation dialogue project.
With our correspondent in Addis Ababa, Noé Rochet-Bodin
They were granted amnesties while they have not yet been tried and sentenced. About twenty political opponents were released on Friday on the orders of Abiy Ahmed.
The Prime Minister pardoned political opponents in 2018 when he came to power, but since then thousands of opposition supporters have been behind bars again.
Among the released prisoners, there are various opponents. First, the Oromos nationalists led by Jawar Mohamed, a former ally who became a detractor of Abiy Ahmed.
Then, five leaders of the TPLF, the Tigrayan party, yet recognized as a terrorist organization and still at war in Tigray against the Ethiopian government. And finally, members of the opposition political party, Balderas.
According to several observers, this is a political coup carried out by Abiy Ahmed, to give credibility to his national reconciliation project. It is, in any case, a grace welcomed by the Secretary General of the United Nations.
A lawyer for Oromo political prisoners nevertheless recalls that this amnesty must be more inclusive and extend to the thousands of political prisoners in Oromiya.
Read also: Ethiopia: the Human Rights Commission warns about the treatment of detainees in Oromiya
Note that these releases are independent of the Tigray War, in the north of the country, for which no negotiations are still in sight.