Opposition activists are urging people to change their Facebook profile pictures to that of political prisoner Birtukan Mideksa on 11 September. The opposition party leader is serving a life sentence after she was first arrested during disputed elections in 2005. Mideksa was released after two years in prison, before being arrested again in 2008 after saying that her release was due to opposition pressure on the government. The protest has been timed to coincide with the beginning of the Ethiopian new year.