Ethiopia: Pardon Again!

After having spent one year and nine months back in prison for saying that she had not asked for the pardon that saw her and other opposition party members released from the prison time they had been sentenced to for inciting violence in the aftermath of the 2005 elections, Birtukan Midekssa, who was pardoned again on Wednesday, October 6, 2010, was met with a sight she did not expect when she arrived home.

Upon the confirmation of rumours that have been circulating about her release since the Ethiopian New Year, her friends, family, and neighbours held an impromptu celebration of her return. People flocked to her neighbourhood in droves, hung out decorative flags, and laid down a red carpet. The car that was transporting her home could not reach the front door and Birtukan walked to her house through the crowd.

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