ALGERIA: 2 Djamel Eddine Fahassi, Alger Chaîne III IMPRISONED: May 6, 1995 Fahassi, a reporter for the state-run radio station Alger Chaîne III and a contributor to several Algerian newspapers, including the now-banned weekly of the Islamic Salvation Front, Al-Forqane, was abducted near his home in the al-Harrache suburb of the capital, Algiers, by four…
UPDATE January 26, 2007 Original Alert: April 25, 2006 Abraham Reta Alemu, freelance IMPRISONED Alemu, previously free on bail after already serving more than three months of a one-year prison sentence handed down in April 2006, was ordered back to jail after Ethiopia’s Supreme Court rejected his appeal, according to CPJ sources. He was transferred…
JANUARY 11, 2007 Posted February 6, 2007 Olurotimi Akanbi, Addis Fortune LEGAL ACTION Akanbi, a copy editor for the private English-language business weekly Addis Fortune in the capital Addis Ababa, was charged with contempt of court in connection with a December 31, 2006, headline critical of the Ethiopian judiciary, according to CPJ sources. The headline,…
New York, January 3, 2007—Ethiopia’s Supreme Court has confirmed a 15-month prison sentence against a journalist who was out on bail, and sent him back to prison, according to CPJ sources. In a December 27 decision, the court ordered that Leykun Engeda, former editor of the defunct Amharic-language weekly Dagim Wonchif, should serve out the…
New York, December 7, 2006–The number of journalists jailed worldwide for their work increased for the second consecutive year, and one in three is now an Internet blogger, online editor, or Web-based reporter, according to an analysis by the Committee to Protect Journalists.
New York, July 17, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists has confirmed that Solomon Aregawi, owner of the defunct Amharic-language newspaper Hadar, has been charged with antistate crimes in connection with his journalistic work. This raises the number of journalists jailed for their work in Ethiopia to 18 from 17, according to CPJ research. Three are…
Your Excellency, The Committee to Protect Journalists urges you as chairman of the African Union to discuss with your fellow heads of state and government at your summit in the Gambian capital, Banjul, from July 1, the need to defend press freedom on the continent.
New York, May 24, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists is concerned by reports that Web sites critical of the government have been inaccessible in Ethiopia since late last week. Several blogs have reported that the authorities are blocking sites, although the information minister denied this. An Ethiopian blogger who goes by the alias Ethio-Zagol reported…