By Amnesty International, UK
December 2013
Please click on link below to watch the video
When the Ethiopian government used anti-terror laws to silence its critics, Eskinder spoke out in protest. As a result he was arrested for the eighth time and sentenced to 18 years in prison.
Despite the lies and the pain of separation from his wife and son, Eskinder’s hope for the future of Ethiopia and its people is as strong as ever. In a letter smuggled out of prison he said:
Freedom is partial to no race. Freedom has no religion. Freedom favours no ethnicity. Freedom discriminates not between rich and poor countries. Inevitably, freedom will overwhelm Ethiopia
What we are doing
To help free Eskinder we are mobilising our worldwide network to take action in support of his release. Over 20,000 people in the UK have already joined the campaign by writing letters, sending cards or signing the global petition.
We are also lobbying Prime Minister Hailemarian Desalegn directly, and focusing media attention on Eskinder’s case and the worsening crackdown on free speech and freedom of expression in Ethiopia.
This is the same kind of campaigning that in 2010 helped secure the release of Eskinder’s friend, Birtukan Mideksa
She was serving a life sentence when the Ethiopian government set her free thanks to pressure from Amnesty International.
We know we can get Eskinder home. Help us do it!