by Engidu Woldie ESAT News (February 26, 2018) The city of Nekemte was covered with plumes of smokes today as protesters burnt tyres and blocked roads angered by the detention and ban on leaders of the Oromo Federalist Congress (OFC), who planned to meet their supporters in the city last Saturday. Prominent Oromo political leaders including Dr. Merera Gudina and ...

by Engidu Woldie ESAT News (February 24, 2018) Leaders of the opposition Oromo Federalist Congress (OFC) who were recently freed from prison have been detained briefly today and banned from entering Nekemte, a city in Western Ethiopia, to meet their supporters. Dr. Merera Gudina and Mr. Bekele Gerba were on a tour in the Oromo region to meet and thank ...

by Engidu Woldie ESAT News (February 13, 2018) A leading Oromo opposition leader Bekele Gerba and six other members of the Oromo Federalist Congress and dissidents were released today, on the second day of a “stay-at-home” protests in the Oromo region which among others demanded the release of all political prisoners. The organ of the TPLF regime, Fana Broadcasting Corporation, ...

ESAT News (February 12, 2018) Towns across the Oromo region today saw the beginning of a three day stay-at-home protest to pressure the regime to release political prisoners. Residents of several towns took part in the strike to also demand that Agazi forces leave their villages.   Shashemene, Bale, Woliso, Metu, Bishoftu, Alemgena, Harar and 20 districts in Eastern Hararghe ...

ESAT News (February 5, 2018) A court in Addis Ababa sentenced a prominent opposition figure, Bekele Gerba, Secretary General for the Oromo Federalist Congress and his colleagues for an extra six months for what it called contempt of court during the proceedings on Monday. According to witnesses who attended today’s proceedings, the judge demand that defendants rise to hear the ...

by Engidu Woldie ESAT News (January 17, 2018) A day after spokesperson for the Ethiopian regime, Negeri Lencho, says the release of a prominent opposition leader would be decided after two months, Merera Gudina, along with over a hundred other prisoners of conscience, has been freed today after fourteen months of detention. A number of other leading opposition figures and ...

by Engidu Woldie ESAT News (January 15, 2018) Hundreds of political prisoners would be freed as early as Wednesday as charges were dropped against 528 prisoners, media affiliated with the regime in Addis Ababa reported on Monday. Announcing the release, the prosecutor general of the regime, Getachew Ambaye, however insist the country is not holding political prisoners, echoing the statement ...

ESAT News (December 25, 2017) One of Ethiopia’s prisoners of conscience, Bekele Gerba, has been denied to see a doctor despite his repeated request to the prison administration. His daughter, Bontu Bekele, who told Deutsche Welle that her dad is suffering from hypertension said he is also suffering from other ailments and has been demanding prison administrators to see his ...

ESAT News (November 1, 2017) A cassation bench with the Ethiopian Supreme court has reportedly overruled an earlier decision by the court to grant bail to Bekele Gerba, a leading opposition figure incarcerated for over a year and half on charges of terrorism. The court over the weekend granted bail to Gerba as per the defense request that his charges ...

ESAT News (October 30, 2017) The supreme court of Ethiopia granted bail to Bekele Gerba, one of the key opposition leaders incarcerated for over a year and half on charges of terrorism, which were later reduced to criminal charges. Bekele was among 20 others who were imprisoned in April 2015 at the height of protests in the Oromo region accused ...