Ethiopia: Court denies bail to Dr. merera Gudina

Dr. Merera Gudina

ESAT News (march 10, 2017)

The federal high court on Friday denied bail for Dr. Merera Gudina who is detained and charged with alleged violations of the state of emergency and sedition.

Lawyers for Dr. Gudina last week requested for his client to be released on bail.

Prosecutors for the Ethiopian regime accuse Gudina, the leader of the Oromo federalist Congress (OFC), and others of inciting the anti-government protest that rocked the nation last year.

Dr. Merera Gudina said his only crime was that he struggled all his adult life for the creation of a democratic Ethiopia.

Prosecutors also charge that Gudina violated the state of emergency declared last year, seen by many as a martial law, when he met Prof. Berhanu Nega in Brussels in December when they both testified at the European Parliament on the political situation in Ethiopia.

Dr. Gudina was put behind bars upon his return from Brussels where he testified at the European Parliament.

Prosecutors also allege that two media outlets abroad, the Ethiopian Satellite Television and Radio (ESAT) and OMN have worked in tandem with banned political groups.

The Ethiopian regime uses anti-terrorism as well as state of emergency laws to crackdown on opposition politicians and dissents.