Throughout the last few months 400 or more people have been killed and many more taken into government custody for their outspokenness.
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Feyisa Lilesa told reporters on Sunday that he may be killed or imprisoned if he ever returns to the East African country.
He strode across the finish line with his arms crossed over his head in a sign of solidarity for the Oromo people, his native group and the largest ethnic group in Ethiopia. To most people, this would look like a form of celebration affected by exhaustion – raised hands that needed to rest against each other because of the effort of finishing a 26.2 mile race.
The crossed-wrists gesture has been widely used by anti-government protesters in recent nationwide demonstrations as a sign of peaceful resistance, and before that by the Muslim community when it revolted against the government. “Oromo people now protest (for) what is right, for peace, for a place”, Lilesa said in a news conference after his medal ceremony. If I am not killed maybe they will put me in prison.
“Human Rights Watch’s research indicates that security forces repeatedly used lethal force, including live ammunition, to break up numerous 500 reported protests that have occurred since November 2015”, the group reported on its website.
It was a remarkable turn of events – within seconds, Lilesa had gone from a national hero to a man who might not be able to return to his home country. Maybe I stay here. The BBC reports that political displays or protests are actually banned by the International Olympic Committee, so Lilesa could face sanctions from them as well. This was my feeling.
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Ethiopia’s government vowed that Olympic marathon silver medalist Feyisa Lilesa had nothing to fear upon returning home after staging a dramatic protest against the country’s politics, state-controlled Fana radio reported on Monday, August 22.
