ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia – The state-owned Ethiopian News Agency reports that terrorism and other charges have been dropped against a Swedish doctor who had been accused of corruption and orchestrating a prison fire.
Prominent blogger Befkadu Hailu confirms to The Associated Press that the Ethiopian-born Fikru Maru has been freed.
The Swedish foreign ministry in March raised Fikru's case with Ethiopia's ambassador. The Swedish Embassy declined to comment Friday.
Fikru's lawyer in Sweden, Hans Bagner, tells public Swedish radio that "It's about time. It has been a long and very strenuous exercise."
The doctor was arrested in 2013 after a years-long dispute over equipment for his cardiology clinic. The terrorism charge came years later after he and others were accused of starting a fire in the prison where they were held.
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