The Office of Kinijit International Leadership has reported that Ato Hailu Shawel, Chairman of the Coalition for Unity and Democracy Party (Kinijit), has been admitted to a hospital today around 9:00 AM local time. He has been taken to the Police Hospital from Kality prison.

Ato Hailu had been denied visits by U.S. Congressman Donald Payne yesterday, as well as the Foreign Minister of Ireland and EU’s Commissioner for Development in the past, according to Kinijit’s press release today.

Other Kinijit leaders also suffer from various illnesses. The latest victim is Dr Berhanu Nega, whose condition was reported by Amnesty International. Wz. Bertukan Mideksa, Ato Muluneh Eyoel, and Dr Hailu Araya are also suffering from illnesses caused by unsanitary prison conditions.

For the Meles regime punishing and killing political prisoners by exposing them to diseases is not a new method of eliminating opponents. Professor Asrat Woldeyes and Ato Kebede Desta are among the prominent victims of such cruelty. Kinijit leaders are facing the same fate.