FREE BIRTUKAN MIDEKSA!
Marking one year in Prison
(join the free Birtukan Mideksa campaign)
Birtukan Mideksa, an opposition party leader, is serving a life sentence in Kaliti Prison in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. She is a prisoner of conscience. Birtukan Mideksa was arrested in November 2005 after the Coalition for Unity and Democracy party, of which she was a leader, contested disputed local and parliamentary elections. Subsequent demonstrations turned violent, resulting in the deaths of almost 200 people. She was charged with treason in one of several trials, convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment. Local elders negotiated a pardon with the Ethiopian authorities, and Birtukan Mideksa and others were released in June 2007 after serving more than 18 months in prison. The terms of the pardon remain unclear. In November 2008 she spoke about her pardon at a public meeting in Sweden. When she returned to Ethiopia, the authorities asked her to retract her statement; she refused and was rearrested in December 2008. The Ministry of Justice revoked her pardon and re-imposed her life sentence.
Source: Amnesty International
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