By Xinhua
The anti-terror and constitutional affairs bench of the Ethiopian Federal High Court on Tuesday sentenced the killer of a popular singer to life imprisonment.
Hachalu Hundessa, a singer who focused on the rights of the country’s Oromo ethnic group, was shot dead in June last year.
The Ethiopian court sentenced Tilahun Yami to life imprisonment while his accomplices Kebede Gemechu and Abdi Alemayehu were sentenced to 18 years and six months in prison respectively, reported state media outlet Fana Broadcasting Corporate (FBC). No clear motive for the killing of the singer has been established so far.
The killing of Hundessa had triggered deadly violence in Ethiopia’s capital Addis Ababa and across the east African country’s largest region, Oromia, leaving more than 200 people dead.
The incident also triggered a three-week total Internet shutdown imposed to help control spreading violence and curb unwanted destruction by violent protestors. Addis Ababa, a multiethnic city of four million-plus residents, is surrounded by Oromia regional state but is treated as an autonomous administrative part of Ethiopia.
