CPJ urges Ethiopia to disclose information on detained journalists
Dear Prime Minister, We are writing to express our deep concern about the whereabouts, legal status and health of Eritrean journalists Tesfalidet Kidane Tesfazghi and Saleh Idris Gama of Eritrean state broadcaster Eri-TV. Official statements and videotape indicate that your government has been holding them incommunicado after their arrests by Kenyan authorities late last year during fighting in Somalia.
In Ethiopia, four journalists released from prison
New York, August 20, 2007—Four imprisoned Ethiopian journalists of now-defunct Amharic-language weeklies were released on conditional pardon on Saturday along with 27 opposition activists, according to news reports and local journalists. The four journalists had been given heavy prison sentences earlier this month in connection with their coverage of deadly post-election unrest in 2005.
Four more Ethiopian journalists sentenced; pardon anticipated
New York, August 2, 2007—Ethiopia’s High Court handed down heavy prison sentences to four journalists jailed in connection with their coverage of deadly post-election unrest in 2005, after the journalists waived their defense and pleaded guilty in anticipation of a pardon, according to local sources. All of them worked for now-defunct Amharic-language weeklies. Editors Dawit…
Ethiopian government pardons four journalists, revives genocide charges against others
New York, July 24, 2007— Authorities in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa released on conditional pardon last week four journalists who accepted responsibility for deadly post-election unrest in 2005, according to local journalists and news reports. The four were among 38 activists who were pardoned last week. At the same time, the government is…
In Ethiopia, High Court sentences six journalists to prison, four to life
New York, July 16, 2007—Ethiopia’s High Court today handed down harsh criminal penalties, including life prison sentences, against six journalists and three publishers on anti-state charges in connection with critical coverage of the government during the deadly unrest in the aftermath of disputed parliamentary elections in 2005, according to local journalists.