Ministry details ultimatum for students

Police were ordered by the Ministry of Education to enter Addis Ababa university on Wednesday, after the ministry ordered students to stop staging protests. In a statement issued on Tuesday, the ministry detailed the ultimatum. The ministry had called on the students to stop boycotting classes by Wednesday, or face expulsion. The statement said failure to resume classes by local time 1200 on Wednesday would be considered an act of “voluntary withdrawal” from the university. Students who withdrew in such a manner “would not be offered the opportunity of readmission”. The ministry also warned that “legal measures” would be applied against students who attempted to “disrupt the normal teaching-learning process”. According to the ministry, a meeting held on 12 April between the minister of education and representatives of Addis Ababa university agreed on “the proper organisation of students council and the resumption of the publication of the students magazine.” It had also been agreed that students freedom of speech and right of assembly would be respected. Education Minister Genet Zewdie said on Monday the government had agreed to remove campus police, and replace them by private security guards - one of the issues central to the student protests. But students demanded she set a deadline for the switch, which the minister said she was not authorised to do. Meanwhile, the body of a dead student was found on the banks of the Ilala River, Mekele, northern Ethiopia, the pro-Ethiopian government Walta Information site said on 17 April. Faculty dean Teclai Tesfai said the student had taken part in a peace protest against police use of force against Addis Ababa students. Police are investigating the death, Walta said.