Solomon Abera/CPJ Guest Blogger

Solomon Abera worked as a reporter, presenter, producer, and commentator with Eritrea’s government-controlled national radio station Dimtsi Hafash following independence in July 1991. In 2003, he also began working as a presenter with state broadcaster Eri-TV and state-controlled youth radio Radio Zara. He defected in March 2005 after enduring government censorship and intimidation.

Features & Analysis
Ten years after the author reported the government's shutdown of the private press, Eritrea continues to imprison journalists swept up in the crackdown. Among them is Dawit Isaac, a Swedish-Eritrean national whose case has drawn wide attention. (Petra Jankov Picha)

When Eritrea shut down the independent press

It was September 18, 2001. As usual, I had to do my shift as a news reader on Eritrea’s national government-controlled radio station Dimtsi Hafash. It was just minutes before 6:30 a.m. I was almost ready with all of the Tigrinya news material given to me for broadcasting and was waiting for the on-air sign…

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