Freedom and Revival
After spending 20 months in jail and being convicted by the court, Kinijit leaders, after undergoing through amnesty board, were finally released on July 20, 2007. According to the government and the mediator elders, the CUD prisoners signed an apology letter admitting partial responsibility for the post election violence and promising not to use unconstitutional means for any political aims. In addition to their release, the prisoners' right to vote and seek public office also have been restored. Following their release, the American government said "The United States appreciates the efforts of Ethiopian elders and civil society leaders that resulted in today’s pardon by the Ethiopian Government of 38 opposition leaders and journalists detained in the wake of political violence in 2005."
Read more about this topic: Coalition For Unity And Democracy
Famous quotes containing the words freedom and/or revival:
“In the life of the human spirit, words are action, much more so than many of us may realize who live in countries where freedom of expression is taken for granted. The leaders of totalitarian nations understand this very well. The proof is that words are precisely the action for which dissidents in those countries are being persecuted.”
—Jimmy Carter (James Earl Carter, Jr.)
“Mother goddesses are just as silly a notion as father gods. If a revival of the myths of these cults gives woman emotional satisfaction, it does so at the price of obscuring the real conditions of life. This is why they were invented in the first place.”
—Angela Carter (1940–1992)