Activists jailed over court protest
Publish date: 15 January 2018
Issue Number: 757
Diary: IBA Legalbrief Africa
Category: Ethiopia
An Ethiopian court has sentenced prominent dissident Bekele Gerba and three other opposition figures to six months in jail for singing a protest song in court. The suspects are all members of the opposition Oromo Federalist Congress (OFC) and have been in pre-trial custody since their arrest in late 2015 when a wave of anti-government protests broke out. A report on the News24 site notes that they broke into song on Thursday after the judges ruled against Gerba’s request to summon Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn and other high-ranking government officials as defence witnesses.
