Ethiopia: The World Movement is thrilled to learn that Dr. Merera Gudina was released on January 17, after serving more than year in pre-trial detention. Dr. Gudina, a scholar and chairman of the Oromo Federalist Congress (OFC), was arrested and accused of violating Ethiopia’s 10-month state of emergency.  He was released along with 527 others as part of a larger government amnesty for those arrested during the November 2015 protests in Oromia province. Despite the positive news, hundreds more remain imprisoned and we urge the Ethiopia government to release all of its political prisoners.

Azerbaijan: Investigative journalist and political activist Afghan Mukhtarli was sentenced to six years in prison on January 12. He was found guilty of smuggling, illegal border crossing, as well as resisting a law enforcement official. Afghan has written about corruption in the defense industry and within the government. He was abducted from the streets of Tbilisi, Georgia in May 2017 by Azerbaijan’s security forces and forcibly brought back to Baku.

On January 23, opposition leader Gozal Bayramli was sentenced to 3 years in prison on smuggling charges. Gozal was returning from Georgia where she was receiving medical treatment and was stopped at the border before reaching Customs. Gozal is the Deputy Chairperson of Azerbaijani Popular Front Party and is among many other party members arrested on politically motivated charges in 2017.

Click here to share a solidarity tweet for Afghan and Gozal and learn more about Azerbaijan’s political prisoners.