ESAT News (May 9, 2016)
The regime in Ethiopia today released two members of opposition political parties who were imprisoned following the 2015 national elections for trumped up terrorism charges brought against them by the tyrannical regime.
Daniel Shibeshi, former head of organizational affairs for the Andinet Party and Yeshiwas Asefa vice chair of the council for the Blue Party were released today and have been united with their families. The two were supposed to be released last August but were made to serve more months for contempt of court.
Another prominent opposition politician, Abreha Desta, imprisoned on a similar false charges of terrorism is expected to be released in two months. He is serving the extra sentence for contempt of court.
Meanwhile, Amnesty International on Friday called on the regime to release Yonatan Tesfaye former member of the Blue Party. “The Ethiopian authorities must immediately and unconditionally release a prominent opposition politician facing a possible death sentence on trumped-up terrorism charges over comments he posted on Facebook,” said Amnesty International.
“Yonatan Tesfaye has no demonstrated links to the OLF. His arrest is just another example of government overreach in the application of its seriously flawed anti-terrorism law. This law is once again being used as a pretext to quash dissent.”