Ethiopia

(EFJA/IFEX) – The following is a 2 April 2005 EFJA statement: Draft press law co-opts new penal code The controversy over the draft press law took another twist this week (28 March 2005) with the inclusion of some of its punitive provisions in the new Penal Code of the country, which will come into effect […]

(RSF/IFEX) – RSF has voiced concern that, with general elections due to take place in just two months, on 15 May 2005, two journalists, Shiferraw Insermu and Dhabassa Wakjira, continue to be detained. Insermu and Wakjira, journalists for the Oromo-language service of the state-owned Ethiopian Television (ETV), are accused of having links with an Oromo […]

(EFJA/IFEX) – The following is a 3 March 2005 EFJA press release: EFJA’s existence legally confirmed Justice Ministry’s appeal declared null and void On 3 March 2005, the Federal High Court, which has the final authority, declared a Justice Ministry appeal null and void and upheld a Federal First Instance Court decision recognising the Ethiopian […]

(IPI/IFEX) – The following is an IPI letter to Prime Minister Meles Zenawi: His Excellency Meles Zenawi Prime Minister of Ethiopia Office of the Prime Minister P O Box 1031 Addis Ababa Ethiopia Fax: +251 1 552 020 Vienna, 10 February 2005 Your Excellency, The International Press Institute (IPI), the global network of editors, leading […]

(RSF/IFEX) – RSF has condemned the continuing judicial harassment of private, Amharic-language publication “Ethiop”, whose editor Wosonseged Gebrekidan has just spent a week in prison because he was unable to pay the bail set by the Federal High Court in a libel action. Gebrekidan, former managing editor of “Ethiop”, was finally released on the evening […]

(RSF/IFEX) – RSF has hailed a 24 December 2004 federal high court decision to reverse a 13-month-old government ban on the Ethiopian Free Press Journalists’ Association (EFJA) as a “victory for the EFJA and a step forward for press freedom in Ethiopia.” But the organisation warned that vigilance is still needed in Ethiopia as the […]

(CPJ/IFEX) – The following is a CPJ press release: ETHIOPIA: Journalist jailed in defamation case New York, December 28, 2004 – The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply concerned about the recent jailing of an Ethiopian journalist who was unable to pay bail in a criminal defamation case. Wosonseged Gebrekidan, former editor-in-chief of the private, […]

(IPI/IFEX) – The following is an IPI press release: Vienna, 10 November 2004 IPI Calls on Ethiopian Prime Minister to Reconsider Proposed Press Law On the eve of his visit to Vienna, Austria, the International Press Institute (IPI) calls on the Ethiopian Prime Minister, Meles Zenawi, to reconsider the need for a new press law […]

(IFJ/IPI/IFEX) – The following is a 4 November 2004 joint IFJ and IPI press release: Vienna, 4 November 2004 IFJ/IPI Welcome Firm Commitment to Hold 4th EFJA General Assembly and Appoint a New President On 15 October, the International Press Institute (IPI) and the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) received a statement from one of […]

(IPI/IFEX) – The following is a 29 September 2004 press statement: Addis Ababa, 29 September 2004 PRESS STATEMENT ON MEETING BETWEEN ETHIOPIAN MINISTER OF INFORMATION AND INTERNATIONAL MEDIA ORGANISATIONS ON THE DRAFT PRESS LAW At a meeting called by the Ministry of Information on 28 September 2004 in Addis Ababa, the International Press Institute, the […]

(CPJ/IFEX) – The following is a 7 September 2004 CPJ press release: ETHIOPIA: Imprisoned journalist released New York, September 7, 2004-Jailed Ethiopian journalist Tewodros Kassa was freed yesterday after serving out a sentence of more than two years in prison for “press offenses,” according to CPJ sources. With Kassa’s release, no journalists are jailed in […]

(CPJ/IFEX) – In a 12 August 2004 letter to Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, CPJ expressed deep concern that Tewodros Kassa, the imprisoned former editor-in-chief of the Amharic language weekly “Ethiop”, has been newly convicted on a four-year-old defamation charge, delaying his scheduled release from prison. Kassa was sentenced on 7 July 2002 to two […]

(ARTICLE 19/IFEX) – The following is a joint letter to Ethiopian Minister of Information Ato Bereket Simon. IFEX member organisations that have signed on to the letter are listed below: H.E. Ato Bereket Simon Minister of Information P.O. Box 1364 Addis Ababa, Ethiopia c/o National Parliament Fax: +251 1 527 967 E-mail: national.parliament@telecom.net.et Re: Draft […]

(ARTICLE 19/IFEX) – The following is a 20 July 2004 ARTICLE 19 press release: ARTICLE 19 has produced a Briefing Note of the most recent draft Proclamation to Provide for the Freedom of the Press, recently released by the Ethiopian government. Although the draft Proclamation – the third in just over a year – contains […]

(IPI/IFEX) – The following is an IPI press release: Vienna, 14 July 2004 Crucial Time for Ethiopian Press Freedom, Says IPI Report In a report titled, “Ethiopia: Press Freedom at the Crossroads”, the International Press Institute (IPI) provides an assessment of the current press freedom situation in Ethiopia. Based on discussions with journalists, members of […]

(IPI/IFEX) – The following is an IPI press release: Warsaw, 18 May 2004 IPI Adds Ethiopia to Watch List At the Board Meeting of the International Press Institute, held in Warsaw, Poland on 15 May, the Executive Board voted unanimously to add Ethiopia to the IPI Watch List while agreeing that South Korea should be […]