They are the most prominent political prisoners to be freed this week, in which the government promised to release over 700 prisoners. Since the start of the year, Ethiopia's regime has released over 6,000 political prisoners and state prosecutors dropped the charges against many of them. "You cannot say how many prisoners we left behind, but most of the ones in Ziway prison are political prisoners. Her office stated that the chancellor welcomed the fact that Ethiopia had released a large number of political prisoners since the start of the year and encouraged the Ethiopian premier to take further steps in opening the country democratically. The protesters' main demands were the release of political prisoners and removal of military personnel from parts of the region.

Source: Ethiopian News February 14, 2018 17:37 UTC