EST | EAST 
APA -Addis Ababa(Ethiopia)
22 May 2025 | 23:58
Medical practitioners detained for allegedly planning riots in Ethiopia were whisked to court on Wednesday charged with incitement.
The police accused the strikers of “inciting riot and unrest” and “collaborating with anti-peace forces,” Melese Bata, Vice President of the Ethiopian Health Professionals Association confirmed to APA Thursday.
The Vice President alleged that the authorities have responded to peaceful wage demands with arbitrary arrests, threats, and workplace harassment.
A senior member of the association said on condition of anonymity that the total number of health professionals arrested by the police reached 106 as the strike entered the tenth day.
The health professionals were accused of coordinating and leading the nationwide strike and being collectively responsible for the loss of life that “occurred due to their absence from work.”
According to him, security forces have kept on detaining, harassing and rounding up in multiple locations as a crackdown on health professionals participating in a nationwide strike is finishing its second week.
State Minister of Health, Dereje Duguma, in a televised interview recently warned that the government would terminate professional licenses of those health professionals who are currently participating in a nationwide strike.
“The health professionals must return to their duties. Otherwise, it will become increasingly difficult for them to continue practicing—whether in public or private health institutions,” he said.
The strike, primarily driven by demands for better pay, improved working conditions and systemic reforms, has seen extensive participation from medical professionals, including residents and physicians in training.
The country’s ministry of health late last week in a statement warned that those healthcare professionals participating in the national strike will face criminal charges, cautioning that “strikes in the health sector are legally prohibited
MG/as/APA