APRIL 27, 2006
Posted: May 8, 2006
Abraham Reta Alemu, Ruh
IMPRISONED
Alemu, former editor of the now defunct Amharic-language weekly Ruh, was sentenced on April 24 to one year in jail for defamation, and imprisoned the same day. The charge stemmed from an article published in Ruh several years ago, which accused senior government officials of corruption, according to CPJ sources.
At the time of his arrest, Alemu was working for the private weekly Addis Admas, one of the few Amharic-language newspapers still appearing in the wake of a massive crackdown on the press and opposition that followed anti-government protests last November. Alemu’s arrest takes the number of journalists jailed for their work in Ethiopia to at least 17.
For more information on the crackdown, see CPJ’s April 25 alert: http://www.cpj.org/news/2006/africa/ethiopia25apr06na.html.