Authorities free 395 more detainees

Ethiopian authorities have released 395 detainees arrested on suspicion of involvement in post-election political unrest, the nation’s official news agency reported on Wednesday. Most had been detained in the aftermath of the disputed May 2005 polls, in which Prime Minister Meles Zenawi’s Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front retained power. Thousands of people were arrested and more than 80 others killed in violent demonstrations in June and November 2005. The latest releases bring to 11,600 the number of people freed so far. "The prosecutor decided to release the 395 detainees in light of the low-level participation in the violence, their ages and their penitence," said a statement from the prosecutor general’s office published by the Ethiopian News Agency. The exact number of those still being held remains unclear. State media said only 98 prisoners remained in custody at Ziway detention camp, 150 km south of the capital, Addis Ababa. A second detention centre, Dedesa, located 400 km west of the capital, was closed in December amid allegations of prisoner abuse. Among those still detained are Hailu Shawel, chairman of the opposition Coalition for Unity and Democracy party, Berhanu Nega, mayor of Addis Ababa, and Mesfin Wolde Mariam, a prominent human rights activist. They are part of a group of 129 opposition leaders, journalists and aid workers accused of treason, genocide and other charges. Their trial will resume on 22 March. The government crackdown on the opposition and the media has prompted some Western donors to cut aid to impoverished Ethiopia, sub-Saharan Africa's second most populous country. In December 2005, the European Union withdrew US $375 million in direct budgetary support to the government due to concerns over human rights in the country. Meles has said that around 3,000 people will face charges for the disturbances. He has ordered an independent investigation into the unrest. Ninety-eight other people who had been detained were indicted on evidence of their involvement in violence, the police added.