Abiye Abebe was an Ethiopia

Ethiopia

Ethiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2...

n politician and son-in-law of Emperor Haile Selassie. During the 1940s and 1950s he was Minister of War, and later served as Minister of Justice and Minister of the Interior. He chaired the High National Security Commission during the Ethiopian Revolution until his arrest by the Derg

Derg

The Derg or Dergue was a Communist military junta that came to power in Ethiopia following the ousting of Haile Selassie I. Derg, which means "committee" or "council" in Ge'ez, is the short name of the Coordinating Committee of the Armed Forces, Police, and Territorial Army, a committee of...

 16 July 1974.

According to John Spencer, when Prime Minister Aklilu Habte-Wold

Aklilu Habte-Wold

Tsehafi Taezaz Aklilu Habte-Wold was an Ethiopian politician under Emperor Haile Selassie. He was foreign minister of Ethiopia from 1947 to 1958 and Prime Minister from 1961 until shortly before his death....

 sought to resign his post in 1973, he suggested to the Emperor that he be replaced by General Abiye. However Abiye consented to becoming Prime Minister only if his nomination, and those of his cabinet, were approved by the Ethiopian parliament, a condition Emperor Haile Selassie found unacceptable. As a result, Haile Selassie decided to appoint Endelkachew Makonnen

Endelkachew Makonnen

Lij Endalkachew Makonnen was an Ethiopian politician. Born in Addis Ababa, his father, Ras Betwoded Makonnen Endelkachew served as Prime Minister of Ethiopia in the 1950s. Endalkachew Makonnen was a member of the aristocratic Addisge clan that were very influential in the later part of the...

 Prime Minister instead. Abiye was one of 60 former government officials executed the night of 22-23 November at Akaki Central Prison by the Derg.