Blen Mesfin (Amharic: ብሌን መስፍን) is an official in Ethiopia’s opposition Semayawi (Blue) Party. [1] In 2016, she was named one of twenty women political prisoners in the FreeThe20 campaign by Samantha Power, the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations. [2]
Mesfin was arrested at a protest in Addis Ababa in April 2015. [1] The protest was for 26 Ethiopians killed by a group called Islamic State in Libya. [3] More than 30 members of the Semayawi Party were arrested before an April 27 political rally. [4]
Two other members of the Semayawi Party, Meron Alemayehu (ሜሮን አለማየሁ ) and Nigist Wondifraw (ንግስት ወንዲፍራው), were also arrested. They were #5 and #6 in the FreeThe20 campaign. They are now free. [5]