Police crackdown on anti-Saudi demonstrators angers Ethiopians
A police crackdown in Addis Ababa on a demonstration called to protest the brutal actions by the Saudi police against Ethiopian illegal migrant workers in Saudi Arabia angered thousands of Ethiopiann who took to the social media Facebook and Twitter to pour in their frustrations.
This morning the police blocked demonstrators from reaching the Saudi Embassy in Addis Ababa. According to some protestors who posted pictures and angry comments on the social media, the police have beaten and detained more than two dozen protestors. A statement from the Blue party, a newly established opposition party, claims a number of its members and supporters were also “beaten, assaulted and arrested” by the police.
On the contrary thousands of Diaspora Ethiopians in the US and across Europe are staging ant-Saudi Arabia protests since yesterday.
“Although Ethiopians throughout the world are voicing their concerns, our voices were muted in our country,” read a statement from the Blue Party. Our repeated attempts to contact Shimelis Kemal, state minister at the Ethiopian Communication Affairs office, were not successful.
Caption: After polices’ crackdown protestors express their despair around the Saudi Embassy in Addis Ababa this morning.
Photo: Michael Fittiwy/Facebook.
