More journalist arrests in Ethiopia

Ethiopia’s arrest of three journalists in August and September continues a pattern of detaining journalists amid the country’s ongoing state of emergency. 

Those arrested are: 

• Tewodros Zerfu, a presenter and program host with the online media outlets Yegna TV and Menelik Television, on August 26
• Nigussie Berhanu, a political analyst and co-host of, “Yegna Forum,” a biweekly political show on Yegna TV, on August 30
• Yehualashet Zerihun, the program director of the privately owned station Tirita 97.6 FM, on September 11

The three journalists were initially detained at the Federal Police Crime Investigation Center in the capital of Addis Ababa, but have since been transferred to a temporary detention center at a military camp in Awash Arba.  

Ethiopia declared a six-month state of emergency on August 4, 2023, in response to the conflict in northern Amhara state involving federal government forces and the Fano, an armed militia, according to media reports. Since then, CPJ has documented the detention of at least four other journalists in Addis Ababa, two of whom remain detained, also in Awash Arba.

“The detention of journalists at a military camp, under unclear judicial oversight, is a deeply worrying sign of the depths to which Ethiopia’s regard for the media has sunk,” said CPJ sub-Saharan Africa representative, Muthoki Mumo.

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