The Ethiopian government on Thursday disclosed that 45,875 prisoners have been pardoned in the past nine months. According to the Ethiopian Federal Attorney-General, among the large number of prisoners that have benefited from the amnesty law include political prisoners, journalists, and former Ethiopian government officials. Tsige’s release, which the attorney general said was on a “special amnesty rationale”, followed the Ethiopian government’s announcement to release former high-profile Ethiopian government officials and other political prisoners. The Ethiopian government said the amnesty programme was aimed at national reconciliation and unity. The amnesty programme has seen the release of thousands of prisoners and others under investigation since Abiy Ahmed’s election as Prime Minister of Ethiopia in April 2018.

Source: Ethiopian News February 15, 2019 01:07 UTC