Background: Accused of coordinating with Ginbot-7 and plotting a coup against the Government of Meles Zenawi, Ethiopia’s General Asamnew was arrested in 2009 and given a life sentence. In the general amnesty initiated by Prime Minister Haile Mariam Desalegn in January 2018, he was released from prison in late February 2018. In the post-Abiy Ahmed Ethiopia, his rank was reinstated (full rank) and he became the Security Chief of the Amhara Region. In June 22, there was a shooting at the government building of Bahir Dar, the capital city of the Amhara region, which was described by the Abiy government as a coup attempt. In the shoot-out, some of the perpetrators were killed on the spot while others, like General Asamnew, were hunted down and killed in remote areas of Amhara Region.
In one of his meetings with Diaspora Ethiopians in Dubai, Abiy Ahmed was asked about the accusations that he killed General Asamnew. There were many ways to answer this question:
1. I do not kill; as Prime Minister, I presided over a State which has exclusive monopoly on use of force, in accordance with law. So the questions should be: was the government justified in killing General Asamnew?
2. I do not wish to answer this question. This would be inappropriate for me to do so as the Committee to Investigate the Incidents of Bahir Dar (assuming there is such a thing) is looking into the matter and its report is not complete.
3-10: any number of combination of 1 and 2.
Instead, this is how he chose to answer it. It was as if he was testing if there is an independent media in Ethiopia. And this is how one media outlet, Ethio-360 addressed it: yes there is!
