Ethiopia has freed prominent opposition leader Merera Gudina, with charges against him dropped, as part of a wider amnesty for political detainees. Merera was taken into custody in 2016 shortly after returning from Europe where he spoke out at the European Parliament in Brussels about the state of emergency. “We will continue our struggle for our people in a peaceful and a lawful manner,” Merera said. Some of the spectators chanted slogans calling for other jailed Oromo politicians to be freed. Amnesty and other rights organisations, including the UN’s rights chief, have previously criticised Ethiopia for jailing people simply for voicing dissent.

Source: Ethiopian News January 17, 2018 21:33 UTC