Scores of opposition party members and journalists were arrested in Addis Ababa on Sunday, 25 March at a party held to celebrate the recent release of prisoners. Police officers calling themselves security members of the command post established to implement the six-month state of emergency took the individuals to police station in the south western end of the capital, Lebu after accusing them of attending a party where the unstarred Ethiopian national flag was displayed, friends and relatives said. Among detained were the recently freed journalist Eskinder Nega and the vice-president of the Unity for Democracy and Justice, Andualem Aragie. The party was held at the house of Temesgen Desalegn, the editor-in-chief for the now defunct Feteh newspaper, who himself has been released from prison on mid-October 2017 after serving three years. His brother Tariku Desalegn said that Temesgen has also been detained. Members of the Zone 9 blogging collective, Befekadu Hailu, Zelalem Workagegnehu, Mahlet Fantahun were amongst those arrested. Also on the list are Addisu Getaneh, Woyinshet Molla, Yidnekachew Addis and Sintayehu Chekol of the Blue Party.
Eskinder Nega and Andualem were released on February, 2018 in a move the government said would foster national debate and widen the political sphere. Befekadu Hailu, a prominent blogger and member of the Zone 9 group, has been arrested on April 2015 and charged under infamous Anti-Terrorism Proclamation. After an 18-month trail, he and the others were cleared by the federal court. However, he was re-arrested on November 2016 for criticising the government’s handling of the protests in the Oromia and Amhara regions.
In a related news, 19 people were arrested in Bahir Dar yesterday while they reportedly gathered to set up a new political party to defend the Amhara people whom they argued have suffered social injustice and economic inequality. Among those arrested were a professor at Bahir Dar University, Dr. Desalegn Chane, a lawyer and former teacher at Wollo University, Yospeh Ibrahim, a lecturer at Wollo University, Temesgen Tesema, a teacher at the Addis Ababa University, Belete Mola, a journalist at the Amhara Television, Nigatu Asres, a teacher at Debre Tabor University, Addisu Melese and an editor of the defunct newspaper, Yekelem Kend, Belete Kassa. They are detained in Bahir Dar town’s police station, witnesses said. The party members have already started the process for the party registration and fulfilling requirements for recognition from the government controlled the National Electoral Board of Ethiopia, according to witnesses.
(Photo of Eskiender Nega by Samuel Larsson/Sveriges Radio.)