An Ethiopian marathon runner who went into exile after protesting against oppression in his country while winning a silver medal at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics has been asked to return home.
Feyisa Lilesa captured international attention when he raised his arms above his head and crossed his wrists at the finish line in Rio in protest against the Ethiopian government. Now, he has been invited back by the Ethiopian Athletics Federation and the Ethiopian Olympic Committee.
The invitation came after reformist Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed assumed power.
An open letter from federation president Haile Gebrselassie and committee chief Ashebir Woldegiorgis said that they are ready to give Feyisa “a hero’s welcome.”
Feyisa has been living in self-imposed exile in the US since 2016 and has not returned home since the Rio Olympics. His family last year joined him in the US.
Feyisa belongs to the Oromo ethnic group that rebelled against the former government in 2015. They protested a brutal crackdown on the opposition, a lack of respect for human rights and the imprisonment of dissidents.
Several hundred people were killed during the protests, which subsequently led to the resignation of then-Ethiopian prime minister Hailemariam Desalegn.
“As long as this current government is in power, I don’t have hope of going back to Ethiopia,” Feyisa said in an interview with the Associated Press last year. “I do know change is inevitable.”
Ahmed, who like Feyisa is an ethnic Oromo, has introduced sweeping reforms since he took office in April. They include releasing prisoners, spearheading a peace agreement with Eritrea and inviting foreign-based opposition groups back home.
“We want Feyisa to return home and continue to register great results,” the open letter said.
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