Ethiopia ex-minister turned critic convicted on weapon charge

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Ethiopia's former state minister of peace was imprisoned for seven years on a weapons charge Friday, his lawyer said, two years after falling out with Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed.

Taye Dendea was once a staunch supporter of Abiy and held the ministerial role during the 2020-22 Tigray War.

But he turned against the federal government's handling of the economy and an insurgency in his native Oromia region, and described Abiy as "a savage playing with human blood" after he was fired in late 2023.

Taye was soon after accused of collaborating with the Oromo Liberation Army, one of several armed groups fighting the federal government. The Oromo ethnic group accounts for around a third of Ethiopia's 130 million population.

Taye's lawyer told AFP he had a weapon because he was "a target during the war in Tigray" and said the conviction was a "plot" and "political decision" to silence him.

The Red Cross said in July that the conflict in Oromia, where the OLA has been fighting since 2018, has had "devastating consequences" for the local population.