An Ethiopian Court has sentenced more than 30 members of GinBot 7, an outlawed group to a long prison term. The Ethiopian Government had designated the group a terrorist organization in 2011 after it allegedly attempted to illegally overthrow the government. The recent move is coming few days after the government had announced that it would free political prisoners who have been convicted and are serving various prison terms or politicians facing trial in court.
Those sentenced to jail now are expected to serve between 15 and 18 years imprisonment.
Relatedly, a leading opposition figure, Bekele Gerba and his co-accused have been sentenced to six months in prison for contempt of the court. The duo had protested against the non-appearance of defence witnesses in the court trying their case by singing a protest song in court despite warning from the judge.
Gerba is considered to be among those politicians whose cases would be dropped by the government following the announcement by Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn.
Meanwhile, the government is yet to follow up on its promise or issue a clear timeline on when those politicians jailed would be set free,
