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The attorney general denies that the cases against opponents of the Ethiopian prime minister are politically motivated.
About 2,000 people face charges for the violence that erupted in Ethiopia after the June murder of an iconic pop star from the Oromo ethnic group.
Attorney General Gideon Timothewos made the announcement Thursday, denying the investigations were politically motivated. “The current figure we have is about 2,000 suspects who are being charged for their involvement in the violence that has taken place in the regional state of Oromia,” he said during a press conference.
The charges are linked to days of inter-ethnic attacks and deadly violence sparked by the June 29 killing of Hachalu Hundessa, an iconic Oromo singer and a prominent voice in the anti-government protests that led to Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed coming to power in 2018.
More than 9,000 people, including journalists and prominent opposition politicians, were caught up in subsequent mass arrests that fueled criticism of the prime minister.
Among the highest-profile opposition politicians to be tried is Jawar Mohammed, a former media mogul turned politician who was once considered an ally of Abiy.
Jawar is charged with crimes including terrorism and incitement to violence, but on Monday he appeared in court and denounced the charges as part of a plot to marginalize Abiy’s opponents ahead of national elections scheduled for next year.
The opposition leader has great support among the youth of Oromia. He returned to Ethiopia after Abiy came to power and urged exiles to return home amid sweeping political reforms that led to the prime minister receiving the Nobel Peace Prize last year.
The Oromo are Ethiopia’s largest ethnic group, but they had never held the highest position in the country until they helped bring Abiy to power. Now, ethnic tensions and violence between communities pose an increasing challenge to her reforms.
Jawar has been fiercely critical of Abiy for the postponement of a general election that was once planned for August due to the coronavirus pandemic. The government’s mandate expires at the end of next month and no new date has been set for the elections.
Gideon on Thursday rejected any suggestion that the cases against Jawar and others were tinged with politics.
“Although the suspects now charged include politicians, no one has been arrested for their political activity,” the attorney general said.
“We have to distinguish between peaceful and legal political mobilization and the kind of rhetoric, the kind of ultra-nationalist militant violent political activism, that results in the deaths and injuries of citizens,” Gideon said.
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