By now, it is quite clear that the government does not have a case against Jawar Mohammed and the many opposition politicians currently on trial. Dragging the opposition before courts to achieve a political end is one of the most menacing things you could because by putting your political adversaries on trial, you are also putting yourself on trial. These individuals are not going to sit there and watch railroaded. They will defend themselves politically, and that will expose the government to the judgment of the people. In the meantime, the trial will elevate the status of the prisoners into martyrs and the country will suffer from the economic and political crisis that follows.
This is unnecessary and wrong on so many levels. The government can and must de-escalate the situation. This means releasing all political prisoners, ensuring accountability for Haacaaluu and all those killed in the violence, and returning to the transitional process.
Finding a political settlement for multi-ethnic communities like Ethiopia is complicated and fraught with a series of historical and structural issues but when the government locks the very stakeholders with which it is supposed to explore blueprints for the future, that puts the whole idea of transition in an entirely different context.
The government must step back from the precipice,
release all political prisoners, and return to dialogue.
I have suggested on so many occasions that Ethiopia needs a negotiated political settlement to move forward. It requires reconciliation and healing. The best vehicle to achieve these objective is an all-inclusive national dialogue process that will lead to a road-map. This, too, will not be easy. The experiences of other countries shows that most national dialogue initiatives will fail a few times. Tunisia, a country that conducted a successful national dialogue process, succeeded after three attempts.
I can't think of any other way forward.
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