Ethiopia on war path with journalists

  1. Posted on Monday 27 June 2011 - 13:00
    tadios
    Image of tadios
    Tadios assefa, AfricaNews reporter in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
    Ethiopian security agents have been holding a newspaper columnist incommunicado since last Tuesday. According to CPJ, Reeyot Alemu, a regular contributor to the independent weekly Feteh, was expected to spend the next four weeks in preventive detention under what appears to be Ethiopia's sweeping anti-terrorism law.
    newspaper
    In its press release, the committee to protect journalists said, Alemu is the second journalist picked up and held without charge in less than a week and taken into custody at the federal investigation centre at Maekelawi Prison in the capital, Addis Ababa. Deputy Editor Woubshet Taye of the weekly Awramba Times has been held since Sunday.

    According to CPJ’s sources, she has been transferred into preventive detention for a period of 28 days, pending further investigations. This is the minimum period for preventive detention under Ethiopia's 2009 anti-terrorism law, legal experts told CPJ. CPJ’s sources said, Alemu's arrest could be related to her columns critical of the ruling EPRDF.

    Alemu's June 17 column in Feteh criticized the EPRDF's public fundraising methods for the Abay Dam project, and made parallels between Prime Minister Meles Zenawi and Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.

    CPJ condemns and expressed its concern about the possible use of far-reaching and vaguely worded provisions of Ethiopia’s anti-terrorism law to prosecute her.

    Alemu was picked up at a high school in Addis Ababa where she teaches English, according to local journalists.

    According to CPJ’s research, Ethiopia is next to Eritrea, where the largest number of journalists held in detention in Africa. Eritrea detains at least 17 members of the press in its secret prisons, according to CPJ research.

Latest News

  1. OPINION: Welcome to African Green Revolution24/05For the past century and a half, Africa has tried various agricultural approaches without much success.
  2. Egyptians vote in historic election23/05Egyptians began voting freely on Wednesday for the first time to pick their president in a wide open election that pits Islamists against men who serv…
  3. Africa Day 2012 - a moment for reflection and…22/0525th May is Africa Day. For many years it has been a celebration of African unity. It dates back to 1963 when the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) …
  4. South Africa's African agenda21/05The Deputy President of the Republic of South Africa, Kgalema Mothlanthe paid a rare visit to Ghana in April at the invitation of John Dramani Mahama …
  5. Women struggle to rinse hunger, poverty stains21/05Just looking at her one clearly appreciates that she is old and frail therefore in need of support for food, clothing and shelter to live comfortably …
  6. Climate Climate change affects migratory birds…21/05Changes in the climate globally have affected the movement of both migratory and resident species of birds, Nature Uganda has said.
  7. Ghana: Foreign retailers cited for currency…18/05The Ghana Union of Traders Association (GUTA) is attributing the sharp depreciation of the Ghana cedi against major currencies to the illegal activiti…
  8. Kenya: Community radio brings succour to…18/05Korogocho, a slum in northeastern Nairobi with 100,000 inhabitants, had many of the ingredients for a political explosion similar to those that rocked…
  9. Veld fires 'flame' Zimbabwe's…16/05Over the years, Zimbabwe has experienced the scourge of veld fires destroying property worth thousands of dollars.
  10. Liberia commends ECOWAS for support14/05The induction training of pioneer Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Volunteers for Liberia kicked off in Monrovia, with the Deputy Mi…
  11. Vanishing Lake Chad puts 30m lives at risk14/05As you approach the Lake Chad basin from Maiduguri, in north-eastern Nigeria, the evidence of despair is telling.
  12. Heavy rains cause havoc in Kenya14/05Heavy Rainfall continued to wreak havoc across the country leading to the suspension of relief food in some parts of the country as most roads in Turk…
  13. Zimbabwe: Growth points lie dormant14/05The Zimbabwean government mooted the concept of growth points in the 1980s as a means of decongesting cities and towns.
  14. Sierra Leone improves in infant mortality11/05Sierra Leone has improved in infant mortality cases according to Save the Children- World Motherhood index 2012 report. The West Africa country descri…
  15. Zimbabwe: Resettled farmers fail to utilize…10/05Resettled farmers in Zimbabwe are failing to utilize land due to inadequate farming inputs and lack of resources.
News archive