Twitter Suspends Respected Scholar Calling For Peace In Ethiopia

Addis Ababa (PP News Desk) — Twitter yesterday suspended the account of Professor Mehari Taddele Maru, a part-time professor at the European University Institute at Florence.

In recent days Professor Mehari has tweeted about the conflict in Ethiopia.

In several tweets he urged the international community to put pressure on both the Ethiopian Government in Addis Ababa, and the TPLF (Tigray People’s Liberation Front) to de-escalate the ongoing conflict.

“Professor Mehari has never promoted narrow ethnicity or ethnonationalist outlooks in any form. His tweets reflect a support for the Ethiopian federal system as opposed to the (current) approach being pursued by (the) Prime Minister” says a lawyer in Addis Ababa.

Several influential analysts have called for Twitter to restore Professor Mehari’s Twitter account. “I add my voice to those appealing to @TwitterSupport to restore @DrMehari’s account” Rashid Abdi, a Kenya based regional analyst added.

“Dr. Mehari Taddele Maru is a respected Horn scholar, a peacemaker and an ally of truth and progressive values” Dr. Abdi, himself a respected researcher went on to say.

The Ethiopian Government has instructed the local media not to quote the TPLF or report on the war against Tigray.

 

*at time of posting in The Taiwan Times, the Twitter account of Professor Mehari remains inaccessible.

 

This article first appeared on the © Puntland Post, 2020 and is republished with permission.