Ethiopia releases opposition leader Merera Gudina

A prominent Ethiopian opposition leader, Merera Gudina has been released on Wednesday, his lawyer said.

"We can confirm that he is freed," Wendimu Ibssa told Anadolu Agency. ‘’We are going to Kilinto prison to bring him home.‘’

”We are delighted, his family and some of his friends are gathered at his home to see him,’’ he added.

Merera was released along with 115 others from a federal prison on the outskirts of the capital, Addis Ababa. 

TRT World's Coletta Wanjohi reports.

A vocal critic of the Ethiopian government, Gudina is the leader of the Oromo Federalist Congress.

He was arrested in November 2016, after he returned from Brussels where he addressed the European Parliament and met with opposition figures who were branded as ‘’terrorist and anti-peace’’ by the government, thus allegedly violating the state of emergency which had been imposed the preceding month.

Political prisoners' release

On Monday, Attorney General Getachew Ambaye told journalists that 528 people had so far been selected for clemency, including Merera Gudina  leader of the opposition group Oromo Federalist Congress who was arrested in late 2015.

"All 528 will be released within two months,"  Getachew said.

Hundreds have been killed in violence in the Horn of Africa country since protests first erupted in its central Oromiya province over allegations of land grabs.

Several dissident politicians have since been jailed having been charged with involvement in terrorism and collusion with the secessionist Oromo Liberation Front, which the government has branded a terrorist group.

The Ethiopian government has always denied it was holding political prisoners, contrary to claims made by human rights and opposition groups.