Ethiopia lifts state of emergency

Addis Ababa, August 4, 2017 (FBC) –Ethiopia has today lifted the state of emergency imposed last October.

Ethiopia declared a six-month state of emergency last October following the security problems occurred in some parts of the country. On March, the House extended it by additional four months.

And today, the House lifted the emergency rule which was implemented for a total of ten months.

Stating the reason for the lifting of the state of emergency, Siraj Fegessa, Minister of Defense and Secretariat of the Command Post said peace has been restored and existing minor problems can be handled in the regular legal system.

As a result of the joint efforts of administrative bodies at all levels, the public at large and other stakeholders, the security threat caused by the unrest was foiled, he said.

According to him, a total of 21, 109 suspects were arrested in Oromia, Amhara and SNNP regional states as well as in Addis Ababa for participating in the violence but most of them were released later after receiving renewal training.

However, 7, 737 suspects are on trial over charges of committing crimes during the unrest, Siraj noted.

Moreover, 709 armed forces were detained in the three regional states, in addition to the 2,732 weapons, 181 hand grenades and two communication radios recovered during the state of emergency, he said.