12 Oct 11 | Index Index, minipost
Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zanawi
publicly accused two imprisoned
Swedish journalists of being terrorists on Monday. In an interview with Norwegian newspaper
Aftenposten, Zenawi said Johan Persson and Martin Schibbye, of Sweden-based photo agency Kontinent, were accomplices to terrorists. “They are, at the very least, messenger boys of a terrorist organisation. They are not journalists,” the prime minister said. Persson and Schibbye
were arrested after they crossed with rebels of the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) into Ogaden. Zanawi added: “Why would a journalist be involved with a terrorist organisation and enter a country with that terrorist organisation, escorted by armed terrorists?”
19 Sep 11 | Index Index, minipost, News and features
Two independent journalists have been arrested by Ethiopian authorities for being involved in a terrorism plot. Security forces took journalist Sileshi Hagos from his home on 9 September. Hagos worked as the managing director for Change, a magazine that covered Ginbot 7, Ethiopia’s leading opposition party which has also been banned under allegations of terrorism. On 14 September, officials also arrested Eskinder Nega, a dissident blogger and journalist. Local journalists speculate that Nega’s arrest was sparked by a column critical of the arrest of a famous Ethiopian actor on charges of terrorism. Four journalists were arrested on similar charges earlier this month.
15 Sep 11 | Index Index, minipost
An Ethiopian reporter cited by name in US diplomatic cables disclosed last month by WikiLeaks has been forced to flee the country after police interrogated him over the identity of an unnamed government source in the cable. On 5 and 6 September, officials from Ethiopia’s Government Communication Affairs Office (GCAO) summoned journalist Argaw Ashine to their offices in Addis Ababa with his press accreditation. Local journalists said the reporter was cited in an 26 October 26 2009 cable from the US embassy in Ethiopia regarding purported GCAO plans in 2009 to silence the now-defunct Addis Neger, then the country’s leading independent newspaper.
08 Sep 11 | Index Index, minipost
Terrorism charges have been filed against five journalists in Ethiopia. Four independent journalists and the editor of a US based news forum have been detained in the country since June and July. The group were formally charged before the High Court on Tuesday, following their entry to Ethiopia in June with the Ogaden National Liberation Front, which is classed as a terrorist organisation by the government. Terrorism charges were also filed in absentia against Elias Kifle, editor of US-based anti-government forum Ethiopian Review.
