On September 3, 2025, Ethiopian federal police raided the newsroom of the privately owned Sheger FM in the capital, Addis Ababa, and arrested reporter Mintamir Tsegaw and head of news Eshete Assefa, according to multiple news outlets and two colleagues who spoke to CPJ, on condition of anonymity citing safety concerns. Later that day, police and plainclothes security personnel also arrested Sheger FM editor Tigist Zerihun from her home, those sources said.
Mintamir had produced an August 29 broadcast on health professionals’ long-standing demands for improved pay and conditions, which the regulatory Ethiopian Media Authority said constituted “incitement to violence and bias” and ordered the report be deleted from the outlet’s social media platforms, the colleagues said. According to CPJ’s review, Sheger FM removed the content from all online platforms.
The three journalists were taken to the Federal Police Crime Investigation Bureau in Addis Ababa’s Mexico Square, the colleagues said. Eshete was released that evening, while Mintamir and Tigist remained in custody, they said.
On September 8, Mintamir and Tigist appeared before the Lideta Branch of the Federal High Court, which granted the police’s request to keep them in custody on allegations of terrorism, until the next hearing on September 17, colleagues told CPJ. On September 17, the court granted 50,000 birr (US$345) bail and ordered their release.
On September 24, the Federal Supreme Court rejected a police appeal to keep the journalists in custody, and they were released.
CPJ’s September emails requesting comment from the federal police and regulatory Ethiopian Media Authorities did not receive any replies.