Ethiopian journalist and opposition figure released from prison

Ethiopian journalist and activist, Eskinder Nega, has been released after spending two days in prison in Bahir Dar, the capital of the Amhara Region.

The political party that he founded in 2018, Balderas for True Democracy Party, says he detained by security forces on Friday evening.

It says that at the time of his arrest, the former party leader and Amhara opposition figure did not have a criminal charge against him, was not on a wanted list, and was not facing a court summons.

It is not the first time that Eskinder has been detained the Ethiopian government.

He spent 18 months in jail after being arrested in 2020, in a round of political detentions that followed deadly protests sparked by the killing of a popular Oromo singer.

The journalist was pardoned and released from prison in January 2022 along with a number of other political activists and leaders.