Birtukan Mideksa - Life Sentence

Life Sentence

On December 28, 2008, Mideksa was re-arrested. Her 2007 pardon was revoked and she was sentenced to life in prison. Human Rights Watch called the arrest politically motivated. The Ethiopian government claimed that her pardon had been conditional on "an apology for her crimes," and that it had ordered her re-arrest after hearing reports that she had publicly denied having apologized for her actions or asking for a pardon. Elizabeth Blunt of the BBC said that since her arrest, Mideksa, whom she described as “one of the younger and more charismatic leaders of the coalition which did so astonishingly well against the ruling party in the 2005 elections,” had become “even more of a heroine, attracting widespread sympathy as a single mother separated from her baby daughter.”

In December 2009, Amnesty International categorized Birtukan's imprisonment as "unjust and politically motivated" The organization also launched an international campaign demanding her release, challenging the Ethiopian government's claim that her incarceration was a legal matter. Many of her supporters refer to her as Ethiopia's Aung San Suu Kyi, the Burmese prisoner of conscience.

In December 2009 Amnesty International categorized Birtukan Mideksa's imprisonment as "unjust and politically motivated". It launched an international campaign demanding her release, challenging the Ethiopian government's claim that her incarceration was a legal matter. When asked about her release at a December 2009 news conference, Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, who rarely refers to her by name, replied, "There will never be an agreement with anybody to release Birtukan," he said. "Ever. Full stop. That's a dead issue."

On October 6, 2010, Mideksa was released from prison. According to government spokesman Shimeles Kemal, Mideksa submitted a pardon plea in October 2010, while the justice ministry quoted a statement in which she expressed regret for denying her 2007 pardon. The United Kingdom's Minister for Africa, Henry Bellingham, welcomed her release, stating "This is an important step forward. We have always taken the view that her re-imprisonment was not in Ethiopia's interest and a solution should be found ... for her to be released." Amnesty International maintained that Mideksa had been a prisoner of conscience, stating that "she was imprisoned solely for the peaceful exercise of her right to freedom of expression and association."

In 2011, Mideksa was awarded the Reagan-Fascell Democracy Fellowship of the U.S. National Endowment for Democracy, giving her five months in Washington, D.C. to "study the principles of democracy."

As of 30 March 2013, Mideksa was a fellow at Harvard University's W.E.B. Du Bois Institute for African and African American Research.