SEVEN JOURNALISTS DETAINED IN ETHIOPIA OVER BROADCAST OF RAPE ALLEGATION

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Agency Report

After airing a report alleging men in military clothes of raping a woman in 2020, at least seven journalists were arrested on terrorism-related charges, according to an international journalism monitor.

Human rights NGOs frequently criticize the 130 million-person East African nation for suppressing alternative voices.

According to Reporters Without Borders’ 2024 press freedom ranking, the nation ranks 141st out of 180 nations, citing “widespread self-censorship.”

Following the Ethiopian Broadcasting Service’s broadcast of a woman’s allegations “to have been abducted and raped by men in military uniform while she was a student in 2020,” the Committee to Protect Journalists said late Wednesday that seven persons had been arrested in late March.

Later, on state-run television, the woman took back what she had said.

According to the CPJ, the founder of EBS expressed regret, stating that the station “found out that the allegations were made up after the show aired.”

Police claim that the journalists “sought to incite conflict, threaten the constitutional order, and overthrow the government in coordination with ‘extremist’ groups” in the Amhara region, according to court documents that the CPJ examined.

The journalists were placed under detention in custody while a 14-day inquiry was conducted, as was the woman who brought the charges.

“Arresting journalists on terrorism allegations is a disproportionate response to concerns over lapses in journalistic ethics,” said CPJ Africa programme coordinator Muthoki Mumo.

Amhara, the country’s second-most populated region, has recently seen a surge in violence.

In April 2023, a local group called the Fano went from being allies of the federal government to launching an armed rebellion.

Despite the government placing the region under a state of emergency from August 2023 to June 2024, the unrest did not stop, and authorities sent in military reinforcements in September.

Today, a large part of Amhara is beyond the control of the federal authorities, and fighting has intensified in recent weeks.

AFP