Ethiopian Court Sentences Killer Of Country’s Army Chief To Life In Prison

The anti-terror and constitutional affairs bench of the Ethiopian Federal High Court on Monday sentenced the killer of the East African country’s former army chief to life imprisonment.

Ethiopia’s late army chief, Seare Mekonen, was killed by his bodyguard Mesfin Tigabu on June 22, 2019, as part of what Ethiopian authorities described as a coordinated effort to destabilize the government.

The Ethiopian government at the time accused the Amhara region the security chief, Asaminew Tsige, of masterminding an abortive coup to destabilize the country.

The failed coup attempt also left several other senior government officials dead, including Amhara region president Ambachew Mekonen and Attorney General of the Amhara region Migbaru Kebede.

Tsige, who went into hiding soon after the assassinations, was killed several days later in a “shootout.”

The coup attempt also triggered a 10-day internet blackout throughout Ethiopia, as the government launched a nationwide crackdown, mainly in the Amhara region and the capital, Addis Ababa.