New York, July 7, 2011–Following Ethiopian state television’s broadcast of a clip presenting jailed and injured Swedish journalists Johan Persson and Martin Schibbye as accomplices to terrorists, the Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Ethiopia to immediately release the two journalists.
“Johan Persson and Martin Schibbye, who have not been charged with any crime, should be released immediately,” said CPJ Africa Advocacy Coordinator Mohamed Keita. “Ethiopia, which claims to respect press freedom, has repeatedly and wrongly detained journalists working in the underreported and conflicted Ogaden region.”
Persson, a freelance photojournalist and Schibbye, a reporter, were injured in a June 30 attack by Ethiopian security forces while embedded with an armed insurgency group in eastern Ethiopia. Both have been detained without charges and held since.