Democracy behind bars: 11 opposition leaders facing jail or death

March 27, 2015

The Guardian

With global democracy declining for the ninth year in a row, we look at some of the opposition leaders around the world who have been charged with sodomy, bribery and arson, and who now face prison and even death sentences

Ethiopia

Andargachew Tsige, death sentence, convicted of attempting to overthrow the government

Accused of attempting to overthrow the government, Ethiopian opposition leader Andargachew Tsige was sentenced to death in absentia in 2007. His party, Ginbot 7, seeks to end the country’s dictatorship and is Ethiopia’s largest exiled opposition movement. After Ginbot 7 was declared a terrorist organisation in the 1970s, Tsige fled and sought asylum in the UK.

While travelling to Eritrea in June 2014, Tsige disappeared during a stopover at Sana’a airport and was subsequently extradited to Ethiopia, where he remains on death row. Amnesty International has closely documented Tsige’s case, and online petitions call for his release. [Read more…]