file photo: ethiopian prime minister abiy ahmed campaigns in jimma

Ethiopia demands to release reporters detained under emergency laws

Last updated on December 17th, 2021 at 08:43 am

 EthiopiaEthiopia – As the situation gets turbulent in Ethiopia, there are an increasing number of incidents that show that the military is gaining excessive control over each affairs of the country on the government’s orders.

A press freedom watchdog called out the recent practice of restrictions in Ethiopia after some of the reporters were detained by the officials. They asked the Ethiopian authorities to immediately release all the detained journalists and also asked them not to use wartime emergency laws to lock up free voices.

The nation had reportedly arrested a freelance video journalist working for the Associated Press along with two other local reporters. The nation is battling a conflict given the situation of the ethnic tribes at present and that led to the government announcing an emergency all over the country.

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The journalists who are working in Ethiopia are bound under the emergency rule that is going on in the country. The emergency was announced last month in the wake of a 13-month conflict with the Tigrayan rebels. As per the CPJ, nearly 14 journalists have been arrested since the Ethiopia issue called out the emergency.

One of the officials from the CPJ,  Muthoki Mumo, talked about the restrictions and treatment of journalists in the country saung, “Ethiopia’s state of emergency law gives security personnel extremely broad powers of arrest and suspends due process, effectively bans critical journalism, and sends an intimidating message to the press.” He said that the government should immediately release all the journalists who have been detained for doing their work and the officials should stop taking the cover of emergency to infringe freedom of expression among people.