EPRP Bail Ruling Slips Again After Police Ask for the Investigation File

The bail application brought by members of the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Party (EPRP) held on suspicion of terrorism went through another hearing on Tuesday without a ruling. The court adjourned to a further date after federal police asked that the criminal investigation file be submitted to it.

A pattern, not an incident

Tikvah Ethiopia, which has followed the file, notes that this is not the first adjournment: the bail question has been pushed back repeatedly without a decision, earlier because of changes of judge. The effect of each postponement is the same — the detainees stay in custody while the question of whether they are entitled to bail remains unanswered.

That matters beyond this case. A bail application that is adjourned often enough stops functioning as a check on detention and becomes a calendar, and terrorism files in Ethiopia have shown that pattern before. Last week Tikvah reported that more than 300 prisoners held on terrorism charges were set for release — a reminder that the charge and the outcome frequently diverge, and that the time served before that divergence is the part nobody gets back.

Open

The report does not give the next hearing date, how long the detainees have now been held, how many are covered by the application, or what the federal police say the investigation file will show. Nor is there any indication of when the court expects the file to arrive.

Sources: Tikvah Ethiopia, 30 September 2026