Addis Standard

 

 

The editor-in-chief of a leading Ethiopian independent news site was abducted and assaulted by security forces, according to its owner.

The Addis Standard's Yonas Kedir was taken last Saturday, held for 24 hours and subjected to "prolonged interrogation", Jakken Publishing said in a statement on Thursday that also described a raid on the news site's offices.

Rights groups have described these latest incidents as part of a pattern of targeting independent news outlets.

The Ethiopian government has not responded to a BBC request for comment.

In February, the authorities revoked the Addis Standard's media registration saying it had violated media ethics and what it described as threats to "national interests", but did not specify which reports it was referring to.

The news site was able to continue working as it was challenging the move in court.

The alleged abduction of Yonas took place on the first of three days of action against the Addis Standard, Jakken Publishing said.

"Two individuals dressed in civilian clothes... violently seized me," the AFP news agency quotes Yonas as saying in a written statement.

"[They] struck me and forcibly loaded me into a double-cab pickup truck. They accused me of 'selling the country out'."

On the second day, Sunday 2 August, a security team raided the outlet's offices "without due process", Jakken Publishing said, confiscating equipment from its multimedia studio.

Then on 3 August, police issued an eviction order requiring the company to vacate its premises within three days, ending 16 years of operations at the site.

The Addis Standard's website is still available and is being updated with reports on the raid and its aftermath. The publisher is currently consulting on what to do next.

The Committee to Protect Journalists has described what happened as part of "an alarming escalation in Ethiopian authorities' campaign to dismantle one of the country's leading independent news organisations".

Human Rights Watch (HRW) also criticised the government's actions, saying the harassment of the Addis Standard reflects a broader effort to silence critical reporting.

HRW noted that in the past year, Ethiopian authorities have arbitrarily arrested scores of journalists, held some incommunicado, and revoked media licences.

The Ethiopian Media Authority recently issued "final written warnings" to independent broadcasters Arts TV and Ahadu FM, threatening suspension or revocation of their licences after alleging repeated violations of media laws.

 

SOURCE/AUTHOR : BBC NEWS/Michael Teferi, BBC Africa