JUNE 7, 2005
Posted: June 13, 2005
Helen Mohammed, Voice of America
Temam Aman, Voice of America
Bereket Teklu, Voice of America
Taddesse Engidaw, Deutsche-Welle
Assegedech Yiberta, Deutsche-Welle
LEGAL ACTION
Amid violent post-election clashes between government security forces and opposition supporters, the Information Ministry revoked the accreditation of five Ethiopian journalists who were working for foreign media. Mohammed, Aman and Teklu of Voice of America (VOA); and Engidaw and Yiberta of Deutsche-Welle reported to the Ministry, where their work permits, which also serve as legal identification, were confiscated. The five journalists are Ethiopian citizens, working for VOA and Deutsche-Welle radio programs in local languages, including Amharic.
An Information Ministry statement which was carried in state media accused the journalists of filing “unbalanced reports” on the May 15 parliamentary elections, according to a translation by BBC Monitoring. The statement warned that the journalists would face “legal action” if they continued reporting, and said the government would “take similar action in [the] future if journalists are found filing false and unbalanced reports.”
Local sources told CPJ that it was unclear which reports had specifically angered the government. The journalists had reported extensively on political campaigning, the voting itself, and the violent unrest that has seized the capital in the aftermath of the elections.