Killer Of Ethiopia Army Chief Sentenced To Life Imprisonment

by PH June 29, 2021, 11:10 am

Members of the Ethiopian army mourn during the National funeral service, at the millennium hole in Addis Ababa, of Chief of Staff of the Ethiopian defence forces Seare Mekonnen (pictured on the placard) and of Major-General Geza'e Abera, a retired former senior official in the Ethiopian army on June 25, 2019. - Ethiopian military and religious leaders condemned, on June 25, 2019, the assassinations of the army chief and other top officials at an emotional funeral service at which Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed wept openly throughout. Ethiopia's army chief, the president of Amhara state and three other top officials have been killed in two separate attacks on June 22, 2019. While the government has said the attacks took place within the context of an attempted coup in Amhara and are possibly linked, the overall motives remain murky. (Photo by Michael TEWELDE / AFP) (Photo credit should read MICHAEL TEWELDE/AFP via Getty Images)

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 Amhara region 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.