Ethiopian Paralympic athlete Tamiru Demisse in new finishing line protest against oppressive regime

1500m runner echoes protest of fellow countryman Feyisa Lilesa, who has now fled to the US.

A runner has become the latest Ethiopian athlete to stage a political protest in Rio, after he crossed the finish line in a 1500m event at the Paralympics.

Tamiru Demisse, who was competing in the final of the T13 race for visually impaired runners, crossed his arms above his head as he crossed the line in second place, taking silver behind Algeria’s Abdellatif Baka.

The crossed-arms symbol is in reference to the political persecution of the Oromo ethnic group by the government back home, and echoed a similar gesture made by Feyisa Lilesa at the end of the marathon event in the Olympics.

Read more at: The Independent