Ethiopia has pardoned an opposition leader with British citizenship who had been sentenced to death.
Andargachew Tsige was found guilty of “terrorism” and sentenced in absentia in 2009 over his role in the opposition group Ginbot 7. He was the organisation’s secretary-general.
The father of three was arrested during a stopover at a Yemen airport in June 2014 and taken to Ethiopia.
Berhanu Tsegaye, Ethiopia’s attorney general, said on Saturday that Andargachew was pardoned “under special circumstances” along with 575 other inmates.
The decisions were made with the “intention of widening political space,” the attorney general told reporters in the capital, Addis Ababa.
Andargachew is expected to be released within the next two days.
Yemi Hailemariam, Andargachew’s wife, said she hoped he would be allowed to return to Britain soon.