(May 18, (BBC))--Ethiopian opposition politician Yonatan Tesfaye has been found guilty of encouraging terrorism for comments he made on Facebook. He was arrested in December 2015 as a wave of anti-government protests in the Oromia region was gathering momentum.
The authorities objected to several posts including one in which he said the government used "force against the people instead of peaceful discussion". Ethiopia has been criticised for using anti-terror laws to silence dissent. Amnesty International described the charges as "trumped up", when they were confirmed in May 2016.
A section of Ethiopia's anti-terror law says that anyone who makes a statement that could be seen as encouraging people to commit an act of terror can be prosecuted. In a translation of the charge sheet by the Ethiopian Human Rights Project that details the Facebook comments, Mr Yonatan allegedly said:
"I am telling you to destroy [the ruling party's] oppressive materials... Now is the time to make our killers lame." Read more from BBC »
The authorities objected to several posts including one in which he said the government used "force against the people instead of peaceful discussion". Ethiopia has been criticised for using anti-terror laws to silence dissent. Amnesty International described the charges as "trumped up", when they were confirmed in May 2016.
A section of Ethiopia's anti-terror law says that anyone who makes a statement that could be seen as encouraging people to commit an act of terror can be prosecuted. In a translation of the charge sheet by the Ethiopian Human Rights Project that details the Facebook comments, Mr Yonatan allegedly said:
"I am telling you to destroy [the ruling party's] oppressive materials... Now is the time to make our killers lame." Read more from BBC »
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