16 Dec 2018

Ethiopia jails soldiers who protested for better pay

An Ethiopian court has jailed 66 soldiers over a rare protest in the capital in October demanding better pay, state media reported on Saturday.

The Ethiopia Broadcasting Corporation (EBC) reported that the soldiers would be jailed from five to 14 years each.

In October, hundreds of elite soldiers staged a protest in Addis Ababa over "inadequate" salary and benefits, briefly blocking a road around the national palace and marching on Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's office.

Mobile and WiFi internet connections were cut for several hours as confusion and panic gripped the capital.

The Ethiopian army, one of the strongest and largest in Africa, is known for strict discipline, and protests by soldiers are practically unheard of.

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