Attorney General Getachew Ambaye
Ethiopia has said Monday that charges brought up against 528 inmates had been dropped as part of the first phase of a recent government decision to release jailed politicians and other convicts.
“The first-phase implementation of release of prisoners’ has begun and at the federal level the charges of 115 prisoners have been discontinued,” said Attorney General Getachew Ambaye on Monday. “They will be released on Wednesday.”
The attorney general said the South Ethiopia Nations, Nationalities and Peoples State – a region of more than 58 ethnic groups – had dropped charges targeting 413 inmates.
He added other regions would follow suit and that in the next couple of months political figures in jail who have been “convicted” of crimes would also be given amnesty.
Opposition parties have long denounced the indiscriminate jailing of polticial figures in Ethiopia.
Merera Gudina, leader of the Oromo Federalist Party arrested in 2016, is expected to be among those released.
The Oromia and Amhara regional states -- the most populous in the country, accounting for more than 60 percent of Ethiopia's population -- are currently in the process of identifying prisoners for release according to the recent decision of the executive committee of the ruling Ethiopian Peoples’ Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF).
According to Ambaye, people who have killed during protests or those who directly participated in the destruction of property would not be eligible to benefit from this latest government edict.
Ethiopia’s defense minister told local media on Wednesday that they had intercepted a large number of firearms being smuggled into the country.Siraj Fegesa, the defense minister of Ethiopia, said they had seized some 270 Kalashnikov rifles, 200 pistols, and a total of 66,000 bullets while being smuggled into the country “to escalate the conflicts”, the state-affiliated FANA broadcasting corporate reported.The minister drew attention to the armed clashes that broke out after the country had lifted its ten-month state of emergency in Aug. 2017.He said the anti-government protests in many parts of the Oromia and Amhara states as well as the recent clashes between the Somali and Oromia regional states had left hundreds dead and caused tens of thousands to flee their villages. Fegesa said, as per the request of both regional states, the national defense forces were deployed in various areas in both the Somali and Oromia regions where the clashes had broken out. Sudan’s army chief visits Ethiopian capital In a rare admission ten days ago, the Ethiopian ruling party said it had internal weaknesses of governance, leading to many socio-political problems that had occurred in the country over the past decade. The Ethiopian government last week announced that it would free some members of political organizations being kept in detention. The announcement became a talking point nationwide as many media houses interpreted it as meaning all political prisoners. Later the government backtracked, saying it had never admitted to having political prisoners in the country. Many opposition figures challenge this claim, saying there have been many prisoners of conscience in Ethiopia to date.
Ethiopia intercepts arms being smuggled into country
Sudanese Chief of General Staff Lt. Gen. Emad al-Din Mustafa Adawi visited capital Addis Ababa on Monday, just two days after Sudan shut its eastern border with Eritrea, according to state-affiliated FANA broadcasting service.Gen. Adawi met Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn in the capital.Last year, the two countries had signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to enhance joint security and military cooperation between the two neighboring countries in the fight against terrorism, FANA said.The closure of the border by Sudan came amid reports that Egypt and the United Arab Emirates had set up a military camp in Sawa in Eritrea, a northern neighbor to Ethiopia.Eritrea, however, denies giving permission to Egyptian and Emirati military for any such activity.According to some analysts, Egypt might want to use Eritrea as a pawn in its relations with Ethiopia, whose $4.8billion hydro dam project made Egypt uneasy.Eritrea seceded from Ethiopia in 1993 and between 1998 and 2000 the two countries fought a bloody war in which 70,000 people were believed to have been perished.Clashes break out near South Sudan capital in truce violationChildren vulnerable to conflict in Ethiopia: UNICEFTIKA supports young leukemia patients in Ethiopia
Sudan’s army chief visits Ethiopian capital
Since 2016 there have been widespread anti-government demonstrations in Ethiopia particularly in the two largest and most populous regions of Oromia and Amhara.
Two weeks ago, in a rare admission, the ruling party said it had problems of governance and internal strife which caused socio-economic problems in the country.
The attorney general during the press briefing did not mention names of prominent political figures in jail that may or may not be released.