The Illegal Overthrow of Emperor Haile Selassie I by the Communist-Marxist Derg on September 12, 1974

"On the evening of September 11, 1974, the Derg announced on television: 'As a present for the New Year, we invite the emperor to a film presentation, on the Wollo Famine,' and let loose a flood of carefully orchestrated propaganda against the emperor. The next morning, Major Debela Dinsa stood before the emperor and in the name of the Derg made the speech that declared that the emperor was deposed from his throne. In response to the speech, the emperor said: 'Change takes place all the time. If the change is for the benefit of the country, it should not be superseded by anything else.' After that, glancing at Leul Ras Imiru, who had been sent by the Derg to witness the act of deposition, he walked out of the Jubilee Palace, ready to go to wherever he was to be taken. He was led into a small Volkswagen and taken to the headquarters of the Fourth Army Division. On the way, he was vilified by people who were, by pre-arrangement of the Derg, lining the streets through which he had to pass." Jembere, Aberra. Agony in the Grand Palace 1974–1982, Shama Books, Addis Ababa, 2005, pp. 14–15.
The Emperor listening to Major Debela Dinsa reading him Derg Proclamation No. 1 of 1974 attempting to illegally remove him from office, September 12, 1974 (Meskerem 2, 1967 Ethiopian Calendar).


English translation of audio recording:

Unidentified speaker: [00:07 – 00:20] The Defense Army, the Police Force and National Courts, with utmost regards to the safety and well-being of His Majesty, and considering that there is a place set up particularly for your safety and well-being; we would like to kindly beseech you to relocate to the place designated for your sake. 

[inaudible 00:37-00:46] 

HIM Emperor Haile Selassie I: [0:51] We have heard what you have said; and We have no doubt that our esteemed Armed Forces are aware of the fact that Us, being the Emperor of Ethiopia, We do not merely hold the title but also a place to be accountable to the nation and the country both in time of peace and also in default. However, in regards to inevitable changes, noting that the changes could potentially have benefits in the future, that it is impossible to deflect these benefits to something else, We have heard the statement. [inaudible 01:42]

English transcript of text seen on video:

The armed soldiers stood in a line facing the Emperor, with Debela Dinsa standing at the center of the line.
He stepped forward and saluted before producing from his pocket a speech which he read out loud to the Emperor.
The letter was a decree of the Derg removing Emperor Haile Selassie I from the Imperial Throne and charging him with abuse of power, lack of competence to continue to reign due to his advanced age, and the additional charges of embezzling the money of the people.
These "charges" were all false! The Emperor listened to the speech in silence. 
While Debela Dinsa hands were shaking throughout his reading of the speech and his fellow soldiers, although armed to the teeth, seemed awed and nervous while the Emperor sat, regal in his bearing and completely silent.
Once the speech was finished, the Emperor continued to sit completely silent looking at the soldiers.
As the nervous tension increased in the room, Ras Imru approached the Emperor and they spoke in low tones for an extended time.
Then the Emperor spoke his statement. His statement was simple and moving.
He stated that through his life, he had tired endlessly for the benefit of his country and his people....
... And that one's individual desires could not come ahead of the needs of the nation.
The Emperor's role was to lead in good times and bad, he said... And to serve his people always and without fail.
If it was determined that this was for the greater good of Ethiopia....then he would accept the decision and do what was required of him.

It's important to note that the Emperor's "deposition" on September 12, 1974 was technically illegal and he did not officially abdicate which means the Marxist coup was inherently null and void. He merely capitulated rhetorically to the communists' demands while under duress (Civil Code 1960, Art. 1706) in order to avoid bloodshed. Witness accounts confirm that he still believed that he was Emperor while under house arrest and that he maintained his "imperial self" and was treated with "great deference" even by his jailers, proving he never relinquished his constitutional agency:

"The Emperor was dignified and relaxed as always while Ras Imru appeared a bit embarrassed and somewhat out of place. Everyone, including Major Mengistu Haile Mariam, addressed the Emperor as before with a great show of deference. Each of us got up and bowed respectuflly before speaking. It all seemed as if the Emperor was still his imperial self in his palace instead of a detainee in a small 𝘀𝘩π˜ͺ𝘬𝘒 house. During the course of the meeting the Emperor was quite alert and did not show any sign of senility. That was the last time I saw the Emperor alive. His every word and gesture at this meeting stands out in my memory. I recall that through all these exchanges, even following the provocative arguments of Major Mengistu, the Emperor preserved his customary imperial reserve and reticence." DeguefΓ©, Taffara. Minutes of an Ethiopian Century, Shama Books, Addis Ababa, 2006, p. 427.

As the AFP documented: "HAILE SELASSIE STILL BELIEVES HE IS EMPEROR OF ETHIOPIA

Addis Ababa, February 7, 1975 (Agence France Presse). Imprisoned in the rooms of the Menelik Palace on the hills above Addis Ababa, Haile Selassie is spending the last months of his life surrounded by soldiers. According to eyewitness accounts, these soldiers, as in the best times of the Empire, still bow before the King of Kings. Thanks to such gestures, as a representative of an international aid organization discovered recently when he paid a visit to the Emperor and other prisoners remaining in the Palace, Haile Selassie still believes that he is the Emperor of Ethiopia." Weldegiorgs, Haile Gezae. "Interfacing Fact and Fiction in Tower in the Sky and The Emperor: A New Historicist Reading." PhD diss., Addis Ababa University, 2021, p. 94, www.etd.aau.edu.et/server/api/core/bitstreams/ae64c9d6-8d7a-4cae-859b-a2cc5bc2f5ed/contentd. Accessed 11 May 2026.

Many first-hand accounts demonstrate that the Emperor was well aware of his own π˜₯𝘦 𝘫𝘢𝘳𝘦 status during his house arrest.

His Imperial Majesty Emperor Haile Selassie the First is the first and the last "King of Kings of Ethiopia and Lord of Lords" with regards to biblical prophecy. The Bible verses in question (Isa. 41:4, 44:6, 48:12, Rev. 1:11, 17, 2:8, 22:3) don't actually preclude succession. 

The designation of "the first and the last" in the Bible signifies prophetic finality—not the end of the monarchy. It means that while the Solomonic throne may continue through his successors, the biblical prophecy has been permanently fulilled and exclusively sealed in the person of Emperor Haile Selassie the First. Any future monarch may inherit the office, and even the titles, but they cannot overwrite or alter the divine interpretation established by His Majesty's advent; he remains the singular, eternal anchor of the scripture.

Furthemore, because Rastafarianism is an eponymous religion, the identity of the faith is inextricably linked to His Majesty's person (i.e., Ras Tafari). This precludes any other ruler from being reinterpreted as the biblical fulfillment (Deut. 28:10, Psa. 68:4). The Trinitarian Rastafarians' psychohistorical group-fantasy and His Holiness Yesus Kristos Primus Saint Croix further confirmed this finality through their declarations and unwitting prophetic fulfillments, sealing the biblical interpretation for the Unitarian Rastafarian faith.

Ultimately, while the political throne remains open to the Solomonic lineage, the celestial throne is permanently closed and eternally occupied by Emperor Haile Selassie the First alone. The prophetic finality of His Majesty as "the first and the last" secures the spiritual foundation of the faith, ensuring that while the Ethiopian monarchy may be restored, the theological crown remains eternally his.

Minutes later, His Majesty was led out of the Jubilee Palace to a tiny blue two-door Volkswagen that was the personal car of the Emperor's chauffeur, General Lulu. "What? In there?" he asked incredulously. "Yes, in there," replied an officer courteously, as he pulled forward the front seat to enable him to squeeze into the rear. One of the soldiers kicked His Majesty's chihuahua to which the Emperor roared, "What has she done to you? You're the animal!" The driver of the Volkswagen, the Derg's First Security Chief Daniel Asfaw, later murdered the Emperor on August 27, 1975.

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