ETHIOPIA: Authorities target journalists reporting on post-elections unrest
New York, July 8, 2005—Ethiopia's Supreme Court yesterday ordered
three newspaper executives to reveal the name of a lawyer their
newspapers cited anonymously as criticizing a recent court decision.
One of the three, Tamrat Serbesa, editor-in-chief of the private
Amharic-language weekly Satanaw, was jailed overnight and released
after posting bail. He and the other newspaper officials—Andualem
Ayle, editor-in-chief of the private Amharic-language wekly Ethiop;
and Tesfa Tegen, managing director of Ethiop—are due in court on July
22 to answer the order. They face potential imprisonment if they do
not disclose the name.
The case comes amid a government crackdown on Ethiopia's private press
following disputed May 15 parliamentary elections. Since deadly
clashes between government security forces and opposition supporters
erupted in early June, authorities have pressed criminal charges
against many editors from the Amharic-language press for covering the
election's aftermath. At least eight local editors await trial on
recent charges related to their work during this period. Many others
report being harassed or otherwise intimidated for their coverage.
Contributing to the repressive atmosphere for the independent press,
senior government officials have publicly threatened further legal
action against any journalist who "defame[s] the reputation and
dignity of a government official or any individual," according to CPJ
sources and a state radio report translated by BBC Monitoring.
"CPJ is greatly alarmed by the government's use of repressive laws to
harass and intimidate journalists trying to do their jobs," said Ann
Cooper, CPJ's executive director. "Ethiopian authorities must publicly
recognize the rights of journalists to inform the public and report
critically without fear of reprisal."
According to local sources, the editors of Satanaw and Ethiop have
been questioned in connection with their newspaper's coverage of a
recent Supreme Court verdict, in a case brought against the National
Election Board by the opposition CUD party. While the CUD had claimed
that the board did not have the right to announce provisional election
results before the final vote count was released, the Supreme Court
ruled in the election board's favor.
On July 6, Abiy Gizaw, editor-in-chief of the private Amharic-language
weekly Netsanet, was arrested and charged with defaming the Defense
Ministry in connection with three separate articles, according to CPJ
sources. One of the articles alleged that officials in the Ethiopian
air force were divided about how to handle post-election unrest;
another reported on a separatist movement in Ogaden, an area of
Ethiopia bordering Somalia; and a third reprinted a statement released
by a group of air force pilots who defected during a training program
in Belarus in June, according to these sources. Gizaw was released the
same day after paying bail of 500 birr (about US$57).
On June 30, the editors of three other private weeklies were arrested
and charged in connection with their work, according to CPJ sources
and the Addis Ababa-based Ethiopian Free Press Journalists'
Association (EFJA). Tadesse Kabede of Lisane Hezeb, Fassil Yenalem of
Addis Zena, and Daniel Gezahegne of Moged were released after paying
1,000 birr (US$114) each in bail. Two other senior editors of Lisane
Hezeb were summoned and released without paying bail.
Kabede has been charged with defaming the Ethiopian Orthodox Church in
an article that criticized church leaders for allegedly failing to
speak out against the government's deadly June 8 crackdown on
opposition supporters in the capital, according to CPJ sources and
EFJA. Gezahegne was charged with defaming the Defense Ministry for
printing a wire service photograph of armed police officers
threatening a young student during the crackdown, those sources said.
Yenalem was charged with defaming the Defense Ministry after his
newspaper ran an interview with a former military commander who was
critical of the ruling party, these sources reported.
On June 28, four other editors were arrested and charged with defaming
the military in connection with stories in their newspapers about the
air force pilots who defected and other articles deemed critical of
government security forces. To read more about their cases, see CPJ's
previous alert: http://www.cpj.org/news/2005/Ethiopia28june05na.html
CPJ is a New York–based, independent, nonprofit organization that
works to safeguard press freedom worldwide. For more information,
visit www.cpj.org.
