1. The trial of Jawar & the 23 Oromos is not a run-of-the-mill criminal trial. It is a political trial carefully choreographed to put Oromo nationalism, which ushered the PM onto power, on trial. It is an indictment of the aspiration of the Oromo public for a dignified existence.

2. It is part of a broader strategic manoeuvre by the government to depict an unpatriotic and violent image of Oromo nationalism and prepare the discursive environment for the PM's ultimate objective of dismantling multinational federation. Jawar is such a convenient scapegoat.

3. Ultimately, this trial represents a collision of two radically contrasting visions of the future for Ethiopia: Jawar's ethnonational vision of a democratic multinational federal order, and the PM's "Make Ethiopia Great Again" vision. And there is no symmetry between the two.

4. The only reason Jawar is the accused & Abiy is the accuser is bc Abiy is the PM. Abiy sees Jawar as a potent electoral threat in the short term & a mortal threat to his "Ethiopia First" vision in the long term. He is, quite simply, using the law 2 protect his personal interest

5. The established order is deploying the devices of law and justice to eliminate critical Oromo voices. This is in keeping with Ethiopia's imperial origin and its anti-Oromo foundation, a nation that rendered a significant part of its population "a part of no part."

6. People like Eskinder Nega, Lidetu Ayalew and others from other political formation are being thrown into the mix to create the impression that the crackdown is not a war aimed at the Oromo but of law and legality. Allows them plausible deniability

7. The tragic thing is that Eskindir's metropolitan constituency is willing to sacrifice him. Insofar as Abiy eliminates Oromo nationalism and Oromo nationalists - forces they consider a threat to the established structure of privilege - Eskinder can be sacrificed.