SHARE THIS ARTICLE Share Tweet Post EmailPhotographer: Yonas Tadesse/AFP via Getty Images Photographer: Yonas Tadesse/AFP via Getty ImagesEthiopian authorities charged an opposition party leader and seven other people with terrorism following violent protests that erupted in the capital earlier this year after the killing of a musician. Eskinder Nega, the leader of the Balderas for Genuine Democracy party, was accused of inciting clashes and seeking to overthrow the government through violent means, according to his lawyer, Henok Aklilu. Authorities arrested more than 9,000 people during the protests in Addis Ababa, which were sparked by the assassination of Haacaalu Hundeessa on June 29. The singer-songwriter was a popular voice during protests by the Oromo, Ethiopia’s biggest ethnic group, for reforms in the ruling Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front that led to the appointment of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed in 2018. Eskinder was sentenced to 18 years in prison on terrorism charges under former Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, but was released after seven years when Abiy came to power.

Source: Ethiopian News September 11, 2020 01:52 UTC