ETHIOPIA

AUGUST 23, 2005
Posted September 8, 2005

Fikre Gudu

HARASSED, IMPRISONED

A prominent newspaper distributor in the capital Addis Ababa, Gudu was arrested and detained for four days by police. The detention was in connection with an interview he gave to the private Amharic-language weekly Asqual about his one-month imprisonment in June, according to local sources who spoke to him after his release.

In the interview, which ran after his release on July 7, Gudu talked about his arrest and subsequent imprisonment in a detention center outside the capital. According to local sources, he described poor prison conditions and criticized the government for jailing him, saying his arrest was part of a crackdown on Ethiopian independent media. (For information on Gudu’s previous imprisonment, see: http://www.cpj.org/news/2005/Ethiopia13june05na.html

During his August imprisonment, police accused Gudu of using the interview to spread false information and defame the police and prison system, according to the sources who spoke to Gudu. It is unclear whether he has been formally charged.

Gudu is based in the Addis Ababa neighborhood of Arat Kilo, where most of the capital’s private newspapers are printed, CPJ sources said. His previous imprisonment and recent arrest may be part of a campaign to intimidate newspaper distributors, some local sources believe.