The government of Ethiopia charged 14 individuals including three parliamentarians who were arrested after the introduction of the state of emergency with terrorism while the prisoners expressed that they have sustained mistreatment.
Christian Tadele, who was chairperson of the Parliamentary Standing Committee for Audit, openly asked Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed to resign over failure to maintain security in the country.
Those security failures finally took the government to declare a state of emergency to throw the MP and other Amhara-ethnic politicians and activists behind bar. This week, these prisoners brought before the court after hey were arrested for seven years.
In a leaked audio that went viral since Friday, the prisoners presented their grievances to the court stressing what they have faced during the past months. Christian Tadele and Yohannes Buayalew, another firm critic of the premier, expressed complaints on brutal treatment they encountered since they were arrested.
The prisoners noted that they have sustained physical and psychological attacks. They also told the court that they were prevented from fresh food and visiting physicians which exacerbates their condition.
The government charged 38 others in absentia including Eskinger Nega and Zemene Kassie, who are leaders of the Fano armed movement in the Amhara region.
VOA Amharic reported that all were charged with violating the criminal code and provisions enacted to control crimes related to terrorism. The defendants have received the charge during their court appearance at Lideta High Court Anti-Terrorism and Constitutional Affairs Bench.
Court ordered police to search for the remaining 38 defendants and bring them to court during the next appearance on April 5, 2024. Many of them have joined the armed movement in the Amhara region of Ethiopia. The Ethiopian Defense Force was deployed, in August 2023, to the region with a mission to disarm the Fano forces but the mission was not accomplished eight months after the military campaign. Reports from local sources seem to suggest that Fano forces are more armed than they were before.
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