by Jawar Mohammed
On November 18, 2012, Ethiopia’s
notorious Kaliti prison that houses countless political prisoners saw
the largest number of visitors in its history. Starting at 6 am in the
morning, wave of people started to arrive at the gate, and by the time
prisoners came out to meet their loved ones, the line has stretched
several blocks. This is part of the Ziyaraa campaign–the new tactic of
the Muslim movement whereby protesters go to prisons en mass to visit
their incarcerated leaders. Ziyaraa is a popular ritual tradition of
visiting village elders, intellectuals and your parents to pay
respect.
According to press release by organizers of the movement,
the objective of the Ziyaraa campaign is two fold; provide moral
support to the leadership by showing solidarity and appreciation for
their sacrifice, and show the world that these are legitimately elected
popular leaders not some lonely zealots the regime portray them to be.
As
usual Ethiopian Christians residing in the vicinity of the prison
showed solidarity with their Muslim brothers and sisters by providing
them drinking water to help them cope with the heat. The event was
concluded without any disturbance, except a minor incident where the
police confiscated car plates as shown in the picture below.
Organizers
say that such Ziyara will take place every week at Kaliti and other
regional prisons where activists are been held. Below are some pictures
from today’s event at Kaliti.
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