The Ethiopia government on Tuesday announced it has decided to release a number of high-profile prisoners from jail, including opposition activists held over an alleged coup and other high-ranking government critics, reported France 24.
Zinabu Tunu, the spokesman for the attorney general’s office, said investigations had been dropped against 63 individuals and they would be released from custody later this week.
“The Ethiopian government hopes to widen the political and democratic space in the country with the freeing” of these individuals, said Zinabu.
The members of the ethno-nationalist opposition group, National Movement of Amhara (NAMA), blamed for attacks last year that the government described as a regional coup attempt, are among those who will be released.
NAMA chairperson Belete Molla said their people should never have been detained in the first place, and welcomed the announcement of their release.
The Ethiopia police arrested hundreds of people following the June violence in the country’s north that left five high-ranking officials dead and created pressure on a government struggling to cope with ethnic tensions.
Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, who had been praised for his efforts to loosen control in long-authoritarian Ethiopia, and was later awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, was accused at the time of using the violence as a pretext to jail critics.
Despite Abiy’s claims of creating a more open political and media environment in the country, the critics accused him of authoritarian tendencies, including locking up opponents.
Notably, ethnic violence has persisted in Ethiopia since Abiy was appointed in 2018 following several years of anti-government protests.
While Abiy is hoping to secure a second term in August elections, the opposition parties and civil society organizations are concerned if the elections will be peaceful and credible.
Around 30 people were injured in an explosion at a pro-Abiy rally on Sunday in Ambo, roughly 100 kilometers (60 miles) west of the capital, Addis Ababa.
