A bit of context to help people understand how things work in Ethiopia. A few years ago, Geb publicly voiced some comparatively mild criticism of Ethiopian status quo. By this time, Geb was national hero of national sport--think of Ethiopian version of LeBron or Michael Phelps. Well, government could not have that. Next day there was a retraction and Geb disavowed his criticism. Obviously powerful people got to Geb, by then wealthy man, and "convinced" him to recant. There was some discussion on these boards--somebody could probably dig up links.
Now, of course, stakes are much higher. Lelisa obviously has a pair of big balls--bigger than Geb apparently when it comes to speaking truth to power.