Ethiopian authorities release details of state of emergency ESAT News (October 15, 2016) One week after declaring a six-month state of emergency, Ethiopian authorities released details of the law on Saturday prohibiting exchange of electronic messages and banning public gatherings and demonstrations among others. The state run media outlets on Saturday published details of the law as presented by the head of the command post secretariat in charge of the state of emergency and minister of defense, Siraj Fergessa. The emergency law prohibits the exchange of messages and information via the Internet, cell phones, social media, television and radio. Publishing and distributing documents, holding demonstrations, showing protest gestures, importing and exporting published materials were also prohibited by the law. The law specifically mentioned two independent media outlets abroad and banned the public from watching and listening to television and radio programm