Ethiopia frees more top opposition leaders from prison

FILE PHOTO: Jawar Mohammed (L), an Oromo activist and a media mogul arrives at the Lideta First Instance Court with Bekele Gerba, an Oromo Congress Federalist Party deputy President, for their court hearing in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia July 16, 2020. REUTERS/Tiksa Negeri

ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - Ethiopia has freed two leading opposition figures from prison, state broadcaster EBC said on Friday, after the Balderas for Genuine Democracy opposition party announced the release of its leader Eskinder Nega.

Jawar Mohammed, who also owns a media company, and Bekele Garba, were granted "amnesty" by the authorities, alongside several other political activists who were arrested and charged with various crimes in 2020, the Ethiopia Broadcasting Corporation said in a tweet.

(Reporting by Addis Ababa Newsroom; Writing by Duncan Miriri, Eiting by Timothy Heritage)