When Ethiopian runner Feyisa Lilesa raised his arms and closed his fists to form a cross as he reached the finish line of the Olympics marathon in Rio de Janeiro on Sunday, he didn’t just broadcast his own solidarity with the Oromo protests in Ethiopia.
Lilesa turned a global spotlight on the plight of the Oromo people, winning himself many admirers for doing so. Now some of those admirers want to help, and a crowdfunding effort for Lilesa has raised more than $100,000 in just two days.
Meanwhile, it remains unclear what exactly Lilesa can do next after committing an act of protest on the global stage — one he says could get him killed back home.
Lilesa won silver in Sunday’s marathon, finishing the 26-mile race in two hours, nine minutes and 54 seconds. But his second-place finish quickly became a footnote when Lilesa crossed his arms above his head as he reached the race’s finish line.
That’s not something a person in Lilesa’s position does lightly.
“If I go back to Ethiopia maybe they will kill me,” he said after the race, according to the Sydney Morning Herald. “If I am not killed maybe they will put me in prison. [If ] they [do] not put me in prison they will block me at airport. I have got a decision. Maybe I move to another country.”
Lilesa’s gesture highlights the continuing plight of the Oromo people in Ethiopia. Human Rights Watch says more than 400 people have been killed in Oromia, Lilesa’s native region, by state security forces since last November. Thousands more have been injured and tens of thousands more have been arrested, according to Human Rights Watch.
The protest began as peaceful demonstrations regarding development plans, before the government’s harsh — and ongoing — response. Ethiopia has one of Africa’s most hard-line governments. Many in Oromia now live in fear, and gestures like the one Lilesa made have become a symbol of defiance and solidarity.
Lilesa’s silent statement while crossing the finish line in Rio instantly reverberated worldwide. Many now hail him as a hero — including Abdi Fite, Lalisaa Hikaa and Solomon Ungashe, the trio that set up a crowdfunding page for Lilesa on Monday using the site GoFundMe.
The page has raised more than $100,000 and been shared on social media 10,000 times — again, all since Monday.
Wrote one donor whose avatar was an image of Lilesa with arms raised in Rio: “Thank you for been brave and also for sacrifice you made. you will always remembered as HERO. thank you”
For all his support and admiration, however, Lilesa now stares into an uncertain future.
“He didn’t plan at all for this,” Federico Rosa, Lilesa’s agent, told The New York Times Tuesday. “He doesn’t want to go to Ethiopia, he wants to go to another country. The U.S. would be very good but right now we just don’t know where he’s going to go. He was very happy after winning but also a bit confused.”
Lilesa’s wife and two children are still in Ethiopia, adding another layer to the drama. He told reporters after the race that he hadn’t discussed his protest with a single person before Sunday’s marathon.
Now, according to his agent, Lilesa is scared to return home himself but unsure of what his next step might be.
“He didn’t plan at all to go to another country,” Rosa told the Times. “I don’t know even when he decided to do this. He didn’t say anything to me about it. I was surprised. And you don’t do something like this for money. He did this to defend his country.”
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