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Watchdog expresses concern on detained Ethiopian journalists

May 1, 2010 (ADDIS ABABA) –An international press watchdog on Saturday expressed concern about two state television journalists who were recently taken to custody on charges of misusing state property.

The New York-based, Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) in a statement it emailed to Sudan Tribune today said that the latest arrests are part of the country’s spurious criminal charges targeting journalists.

“In light of the Ethiopian government’s longstanding practice of jailing journalists on trumped-up criminal charges, the Committee to Protect Journalists is concerned about the detentions last week of two government TV journalists on allegations of misusing state property.”

The Press watch dog identified the two journalists as Haileyesus Worku, an editor, and Abdulsemed Mohammed, a reporter, both working for the state-owned, Ethiopian Radio and Television Agency (ERTA). CPJ said closely monitoring the legal proceedings of the two men who are being held in Maekelawi Prison in the capital, Addis Ababa.

The two journalists have not been formally charged since their arrests on April 22, CPJ said adding “The a magistrate on Friday ordered they be detained for a further one week, pending further investigations by the Ethiopian Ethics and Anti-corruption Commission”.

The country’s Ethics and Anti-corruption commission, which ordered to their arrests, had requested an extension of 40 days.

Speaking to CPJ on Thursday, Ethiopian government spokesman Bereket Simon said that the journalists had been “caught ‘red-handed’ smuggling property belonging to the institution, and tried to sell them to bodies of interest.” Simon declined to detail the accusations, saying the case was ongoing.

“It is not a press freedom issue, but a criminal issue,” he stressed.

At least one of the two detainees, Abdulsemed Mohammed, has said he is innocent of the allegation, a local journalist said.

“Ethiopian authorities have a long history of imprisoning journalists on spurious criminal charges,” said CPJ Africa Program Coordinator Tom Rhodes . “For this reason, we are skeptical of the charges against Haileyesus Worku and Abdulsemed Mohammed. We call for due process and transparency”.

CPJ said that according to its research, Ethiopian authorities have imprisoned a number of journalists in recent years on politically motivated criminal charges.

(ST)

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