Borkena
Toronto – Human rights groups in the country and abroad have been urging prime minister Abiy Ahmed’s administration to release political prisoners and journalists for several years now.
However, the Ethiopian government is denying that there is “no political prisoner” or a person arrested because of “identity.”
The Minister for Justice, Hanna Arayaselassie, on Thursday appeared at the Ethiopian parliament to present a report and address questions from parliamentarians over 95 percent of whom are from the ruling Prosperity Party. She became justice minister after her spouse, Gedion Timotheos, was transferred to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in October 2024.
Abebaw Desalew, one of the few parliamentarians from the opposition parties, told the minister that individuals who are arrested on “political and identity” grounds have been subjected to delay and “serious human damage” because “prosecutor has not presented expected evidence.
He joined the Ethiopian parliament with National Movement of Amhara (NaMA) and was making a reference to parliaments who were thrown to jail soon after the Ethiopian government started military operations in the Amhara region of Ethiopia in August 2023.
“There is no person who was charged because of a political stand or because of identity,” the minister responded to Abebaw’s question.
Activists and politicians from the Amhara region of Ethiopia and beyond tend to believe that Christian Tadelle, who was a member of the Federal parliament and chairman of the Audit standing committee in the parliament, is arrested because of his ethnic Amhara identity. He was taken from his residence, reportedly beaten and thrown to jail before his immunity as Federal member of parliament was lifted.
Yohannes Buayalew, a member of Amahra regional state council, and Teshager, a member of Addis Ababa city council, were also arrested at the same time. The government accused them of “terrorist” charges. Initially, they were detained in Awash Arba, a harsh environment in the arid parts of Ethiopia for nearly a year before they were transferred to Addis Ababa. After over two and half years, no court ruling.
Recently, there has been a rumor that the Ethiopian government is releasing political prisoners and journalists ahead of the upcoming general election in June. DW Amharic service said it reached out to one of the defendants’ lawyers to confirm if it is true. The lawyer, whose name was unspecified, responded “so far no prisoner has been released.”
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Nobody knows anything about her. How did she reach such a high position in the G.O.E?
I want her full biography from the beginning, including which schools she graduated and what degree she studied.
Oromummaa! Oromummaa right here! How come the brother who has been deafening us with Oromummaa this and Oromummaa that did not catch her? How did she get away from him? I’ve her birth certificate right here in my hand. Hanna Arayaselassie is not her real name but it is her nom de guerre. Her father’s name is Gaddisa Baaro and her mother’s name is Chaaltuu Ayaanaa. She was born in 2016 in Dambii.
Oromummaa! Oromummaa! Oromummaa! I’m being chased by Oromummaa! Help! Somebody, please save me!!! Help!!!!