Journalists in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, today reported that police interrogated the editors of Awramba Times and Harambe, two fledgling independent current affairs weeklies over a series of political stories. Officers questioned Dawit Kebede of Awramba Times over editorials and interviews in five separate editions of his newspaper since April, Deputy Editor and lawyer…
New York, August 4, 2008–An Ethiopian judge overseeing the high-profile trial of an imprisoned pop singer jailed the editor of an independent weekly for contempt of court today. The contempt charge came after the weekly published an interview with the singer’s lawyer, according to local journalists.
Ethiopian journalists tell us that police in Addis Ababa have finally released 10,000 copies of Enku magazine that were impounded on May 2 because of a cover story about the jailed pop music icon and government critic Teddy Afro. The May edition is expected to finally go on sale on Saturday. CPJ had protested the…
Dear Mr. President, The Committee to Protect Journalists is concerned that the pending Mass Media and Freedom of Information Proclamation, passed by the Ethiopian House of Peoples’ Representatives on July 1, does not fully incorporate public input, including that of local journalists and legal experts. The bill is flawed as a result, and we urge you to reject it and send it back to lawmakers for revision.
New York, August 5, 2008—Ethiopian police in the capital, Addis Ababa, threatened on Monday to block distribution of an independently owned newspaper if it continues its leading coverage of a new political opposition movement, according to local journalists. The Amharic-language weekly Awramba Times reported today that it had received two separate phone warnings from top…
UPDATE May 7, 2008 Original alert: May 5, 2008 Alemayehu Mahtemework, Enku IMPRISONED Deputy Editor and owner Alemayehu Mahtemework and three media workers of the private entertainment monthly magazine Enku were released on bail without charge after five days in police custody, according to local journalists. Police indefinitely withheld 10,000 copies of an edition carrying…
New York, May 5, 2008—Police in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, have detained a journalist and three support staffers of a private entertainment magazine since May 2. Local journalists say the detentions are related to a cover story about the high-profile trial of Ethiopia’s most popular pop singer, Tewodros Kassahun. Deputy Editor and owner Alemayehu…
Ethiopia: New York, March 6, 2008—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the recent arrest and two-week imprisonment of three journalists from Muslim-oriented newspapers on criminal defamation charges in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Editor Ezedin Mohamed and Publisher Maria Kadim of Al Kidus and Editor Ibrahim Mohamed of Selefia were arrestedon February 16 and held for nearly…
New York, February 6, 2007—The Ethiopian government today reversed its decision last month to deny two journalists released from prison last year on pardon from launching new newspapers, according to local journalists. Three other journalists who were acquitted and set free last year remained blocked from launching their own publications.