Following the 1974 coup d'état that overthrew Emperor Haile Selassie I and his government, both her father and husband were arrested by the Derg.
Sophia herself was arrested in 1976 and, with her mother, held in detention for seven months at the Kerchele prison (commonly called Alem Bekagn - "Farewell to the World"), the same prison at which her husband had been executed.