Ethiopia fully restored internet access following a complete shutdown at the end of June in response to deadly protests over the murder of a prominent musician Hachalu Hundessa, the Daily Nation reported on Friday.
Hundessa was killed by unidentified gunmen in Addis Ababa on June 29 causing an eruption of widespread protests in which more than 200 people were killed and thousands of others were arrested.
The protests resulted in the internet shutdown, a move which the government said helped manage the situation and avoid unwanted destruction by violent protestors.
During the shutdown, only foreign diplomatic missions and embassies, government institutions and continental and regional organisations had internet access.
Experts from the United Nations had appealed to the Ethiopian government to restore internet access arguing that it made it difficult to confirm the number of fatalities during the protests.
On July 15, internet access was partially restored following a return to normalcy in areas affected by the unrest.
The Foreign ministry’s spokesman Dina Mufti had said that full internet access would be restored once the country regained full stability. Mufti added that internet closure was a national security issue but was not aimed at muzzling press freedom.
Ethiopia’s government accused “destructive elements” of using Hundessa’s death to fuel inter-ethnic violence both in Addis Ababa and other parts of the country.
The government pledged to bring to book those behind the popular Oromo singer’s murder and the violence in the capital and other parts of the country.
