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Ethiopia Frees Oromo Opposition Candidate Merera Gudina

HeadlineJan 18, 2018

In Ethiopia, authorities released a senior opposition leader from the Oromo community Wednesday, fulfilling part of its pledge to release political prisoners. Merera Gudina was jailed in 2015 after speaking to the European Parliament in Brussels about human rights abuses against the Oromo people. This is Gudina addressing a large crowd of supporters outside a prison in Addis Ababa where he’d just been released.

Merera Gudina: “As far as we can and as far as we know, let’s continue our people’s struggle through all the peaceful and legal means available. And we demand the government free the remaining political prisoners, so that they can also be free like us.”

Since 2015, the Oromo have staged massive nationwide protests against the Ethiopian government. The protests were initially sparked by the government’s plan to lease a forest to private developers. Ethiopian forces have responded with a brutal crackdown against the Oromo protesters, killing hundreds of people.

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