Dr. Merera Gudina
ESAT News (July 7, 2017)
A Federal High Court in Addis Ababa rejects request by Dr. Merera Gudina for his case to be seen separately from the bogus terrorism charges brought against two independent media abroad.
The regime brought cooked up terrorism charges against Gudina and two media outlets abroad: the Ethiopian Satellite Television and Radio (ESAT) and the Oromo Media Network (OMN). Gudina’s charges were later reduced to criminal offences of attempting to overthrow the government, violating the state of emergency and giving interviews to the media outlets banned by the regime.
Lawyers for Merera have earlier requested the list of witnesses the prosecutor claimed to bring against their client as his charges are not terrorism. But the court today refered the issue to the House of the Federation to decide whether such request is possible under Ethiopia’s law.
Gudina, a prominent Oromo politician and chairman of the opposition Oromo Federalist Congress, was arrested and detained in December 2016 upon his return from Europe where he testified against the oppressive regime at the European parliament.
The court was adjourned until July 31, 2017.