The Ethiopian government has arrested Oromo opposition leader Merera Gudina when he arrived home from a trip to Europe, media reports say. According to BBC and Oromia Media Network (OMN), Dr. Merera Gudina, the Chairman of the Oromo Federalist Congress (OFC), was arrested on November 30, 2016. Over the last two years, the Ethiopian government has intensified the imprisonment of OFC’s top leadership, such as Mr. Bekele Gerba, the party’s Deputy Chairman, after accusing the leaders of siding with the popular #OromoProtests resistance movement of the Oromo people against the government’s grand plan of Oromo farmland grab in Oromia, including the land surrounding the capital, Finfinne.
In Europe, Dr. Merera Gudina held a meeting with the Oromo Community in Brussels in addition to presenting on an EU human rights panel.
The following is Dr. Merera Gudina’s speech at the Oromo Community meeting in Brussels, Belgium.