No, at that time he was normalizing with Somalia and Eritrea and was talking a big game about peace in the region, so the west was backing the TPLF (their long time stooges) to take back power in Ethiopia and keep the old policy in place. Since he was fighting the west preferred candiates to replace him with they sanctioned Abiy and condemned him on their media while funding the TPLF.
Once he returned to the usual satellite state and hostility against Somalis and Eritrea (who they hate for supporting Somalis). He has been back in their good graces ever since and he can kill whoever and however many he wants now.
So he was being punished at that time only because he was not hostile to Somalia and Eritrea.
That could be a plausible theory. But they gave him a peace prize though for his normalization and negotiations.
Honestly Abyi Ahmed was one of the reasons i was hopeful for this new age Pan-Horner pivot. Just i gave up on it and now believe if ethiopia becomes dismantled it will be for the greater good.
Remember this article some time ago of western backing of TPLF. It's funny how the TPLF were the bad guys back then but now the roles have reversed and new ethnic ethiopianist regime is at the helm essentially peddling the same policy.
The TPLF’s Obstruction Of Peace: Enabled By Its Western Backers – OpEd
During the past week, peace talks between the Ethiopian government and a delegation from the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) took place in South Africa. The talks, led by the African Union and which finally commenced after earlier being delayed due to logistical issues, were scheduled to...
www.eurasiareview.com
In fact, the West actually supported and rewarded the TPLF. Substantial amounts of foreign aid flowed, making it one of the world’s largest recipients of foreign aid. The considerable international debts that were accrued by the TPLF were also regularly forgiven, while various other forms of assistance and support continued to be directed toward the regime. Furthermore, the TPLF was frequently held up as a “darling” of the West and it was placed at the heart of the “Africa rising” narrative. Meles Zenawi attended prestigious international gatherings, such as the G7/8 and G20 meetings, and he even became a favored member of the British government’s “Commission for Africa,” alongside Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. Even as the TPLF repeatedly flagrantly rigged elections and regularly won by massive, unbelievable margins (frequently winning between 97 and 100 percent of seats in parliament), Western leaders invariably referred to the Ethiopian government as “democratically elected” and pointedly refused to raise serious concerns.
Without a doubt, the TPLF’s biggest supporter as it remained the major obstacle to peace in the region was the US. Utilizing its dominant position within the UNSC and its own considerable diplomatic clout within the unipolar global system, the US, which had helped broker the Algiers Agreement and been one of its witnesses, shielded the TPLF from any pressure or censorious action and also sought to reverse or reopen the “final and binding” EEBC ruling.
Btw have you read this thread. It's a great irony indeed