Borkena
Toronto – Prominent Ethiopian Political Prisoners are reportedly transferred to Kaliti Prison ahead of the Federal General Election next month.
An anonymous source from the Federal Prison Administration said political poisoners including Yohannes Buayalew, Christian Tadele, Wondwossen Assefa and Journalist Gobeze Sisay are now in Kaliti.
The facility is considered to be more secure compared to Klinto prison, according to the informant. The number of prisoners transferred to Kaliti, which is closer to Addis Ababa than Klinto, is about 50.
Their families are reportedly worrying over the new transfer.
“This prison transfer is implemented without any notice. The prisoners are suddenly transferred to our facility,” Borkena reporter in Addis Ababa quoted the anonymous source as saying.
The government intelligence unit thinks, according to the source, that those political prisoners could be a focus in what they described as possible “violence” and “chaos” in Addis Ababa during the election.
The political prisoners have been held in different prison facilities since they were arrested in July and August 2023 on alleged grounds of links to the Fano armed movement in the Amhara region of Ethiopia. However, the latest transfers to Kaliti are said to be different from the previous ones.
Christian Tadele, Yohanned Buayalew and Kassa Teshager were parliamentarians at the federal, regional and city level administrations. They were arrested in a kidnap-like circumstance after they were dragged from their homes in an after hours situation. Their parliamentary immunities were not lifted at the time of the arrest.
Christian Tadele was chairperson of the Parliamentary Standing Audit Committee and was proposing to audit the Prime Minister.
The prison administration has not released a formal statement regarding the change.
There have been voicing for the release of political prisons whom the government link to “terrosim.”
The view from a considerable number of Ethiopian activists and politicians is that the arrest was politically motivated. Some opposition parties have been calling for their unconditional release.
__
Join our Telegram Channel : t.me/borkena
Like borkena on Facebook
Add your business to Ethiopian Business Listing / Ethiopian Business Directory
Join the conversation. Follow us on X (Formerly Twitter) @zborkena to get the latest Ethiopian News updates regularly. Subscribe to YouTube channel To share information or for submission, send e-mail to info@borkena.com
To Support Borkena : https://borkena.com/subscribe-borkena/ – one time support or small monthly options available. Inquire information about it : info@borkena.com