Ethiopian panel rules government ban on post-election demos not illegal

ADDIS ABABA, June 15 (AFP) — An Ethiopian constitutional review board ruled Wednesday that a government ban on public demonstrations in the capital imposed after last month’s disputed elections and since extended was not illegal.

The Constitutional Inquiry Council of the House of the Federation rejected opposition arguments that Prime Minister Meles Zenawi’s May 15 decree barring demonstrations violates the constitution, state-run Ethiopian News Agency (ENA) reported.

“The prime minister has the power to issue such decree, which is in concordance with constitutional provisions,” it said, quoting the council’s spokesman Alemneh Regasa.

The opposition filed the complaint, which Meles imposed shortly after polls closed in the May 15 vote, in late May before student protests in defiance of the ban began last week, sparking clashes with police in which at least 36 people were killed.

The court to which it was submitted referred the matter to the 11-member constitutional council, which is mandated to intepret Ethiopia’s constitution and evaluate claims of its violations.

The initial ban had been due to expire on Wednesday but in a televised address on Monday, his first since the violence broke out, Meles extended it for another month.

The ban will now stay in place until at least July 8 when the national election board is scheduled to issue final results from the election.

The opposition, which claims massive ruling party vote fraud in the polls, had argued that Meles exceeded his constitutional authority in imposing the demonstration ban.