(IFJ/IFEX) – The president of the Ethiopian Free Press Journalists’ Association (EFJA), Kifle Mulat, has asked the IFJ to provide an update on the situation in Ethiopia: In a statement issued on 14 December 1999, the EFJA had disclosed that twelve licensed independent weekly newspapers had been banned and that another five independent newspapers had […]
(IFJ/IFEX) – The president of the Ethiopian Free Press Journalists’ Association (EFJA), Kifle Mulat, has asked the IFJ to provide an update on the situation in Ethiopia:
In a statement issued on 14 December 1999, the EFJA had disclosed that twelve licensed independent weekly newspapers had been banned and that another five independent newspapers had been forced out of publication because of rising printing costs and problems related to distribution. Of the seventeen independent newspapers put out of print, three have re-appeared as newly licensed newspapers.
As of last week there is a new development. The Ministry of Information and Culture has banned three private newspapers: “AtKurout”, “Goh” and “Moresh”.
In addition, Ato Mairegu Bezabih, public relations officer at the European Union, was charged Monday 21 February with “inciting, urging, encouraging and supporting the killing of 398 people during the Red Terror unleashed by the Derg”. Mairegu was editor-in-chief of “Addis Zemen”, as well as the now defunct “Yezareitu Ethiopia” and “Yekatiti”, published by the Press Department. He has also worked for Radio Ethiopia for several years. He was once the chargé d’affaires at the Ethiopian Embassy in London and the press officer at the Ethiopian Embassy in Geneva. He was also a lecturer at the Institute of Language Studies at Addis Ababa University. His hearing was adjourned for 2 April 2000.
