International Christian Concern (ICC) reports that Martha Solomon Kebede, 18, Miheret Abera Mulat, 17, Gifti Dabesa Fekyisa, 17, and Eden Serawit Mekuria, 15, were freed on 15 December in Babile after spending 3 months in and out of jail.
The group were arrested in September after having a religious discussion with a Muslim friend. They had given their friend a book called 'Let's speak the truth in love: Answers to questions by Ahmed Deedat', which aims to answer the questions about Christianity posed by the late Deedat, a South African Islamic scholar.
Ethiopia
Population
99.4 million
Ethnicity (%)
Oromo (34.4), Amara (27), Somali (6.2), Tigray (6.1), Other (26.3)
Religion (%)
Ethiopian Orthodox (43.5), Muslim (33.9), Protestant (18.5), traditional (2.7), Catholic (0.7), other (0.7)
The book angered local Muslim elders and on 19 September a group of Muslims went to attack the Protestant Meserete Kristos Church the girls attend.
Prosecutors demanded 15 years in jail for the girls but a High Court Judge in Harar overruled the request and granted a release date of 1 October 2016. On the day of their release in October, local police rearrested and imprisoned the group.
On 15 November, World Watch Monitor reported that the girls were transferred to a prison in the town of Gelemiso to serve their sentence for inciting religious violence. Despite the fact the girls are minors, they were placed with adults serving sentences for serious crimes.
Eden, the youngest of the group, said she was beaten on her first night in prison.
A federal government official, who wished to remain anonymous, told ICC: "It is against the law for minors to be put in prison with adults."
Sara Solomon, ICC's Regional Manager, said: "Local authorities ignored the Ethiopian constitution, Ethiopian law, and the decisions of at least two higher courts to imprison these Christian girls unjustly.
"The federal government must do more to ensure that the constitution is upheld at the local level and tackle extremism.
"These four girls' lives have already been disrupted and are now in imminent danger simply for sharing their faith. We hope that the girls and their families will be able to find safety and that similar incidents will be prevented in the future."