Ethiopia arrests journalist amidst violent anti-government protests
By Tesfa-Alem Tekle
December 22, 2015 (ADDIS ABABA) – Authorities in Ethiopia arrested a news anchor as violent protests across its Oromia region resulted into deaths of dozens of protesters.
Oromo protesters argue that the controversial plan known as “Addis Ababa Integrated Development Master Plan” proposed by the central government will lead to large scale evictions against the hundreds of thousands of Oromos, mainly farmers from their ancestral lands.
Protesters further say the plan would eventually also lead to land grabbing without appropriate compensation and insist the proposed plan must be revoked.
The government, however, argues the plan seeks to develop the farmland, create new business opportunities and provide a number of services to remote parts of the region.
The latest arrest against journalist Fikadu Mirkana, comes as the Rights group, Human Rights Watch, on Saturday unveiled that it has evidence that some 75 protesters have been killed during the violent clashes in recent weeks.
“Police and military forces have fired on demonstrations, killing at least 75 protesters and wounding many others, according to activists”, HRW said in a statement.
The government has so far acknowledged only five deaths and has blamed some anti-peace forces including the terrorist designated opposition movements of the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) and Ginbot-7 of being behind the unrest.
Government officials have also accused some protesters having links with armed gangs and terrorist entities.
The United States on Saturday has expressed “deep concern” about the recent deadly clashes and urged government of Ethiopia to allow peaceful protests and get engaged in a constructive dialogue to address legitimate grievances.
The US government has also urged protesters to refrain from violence and engage in dialogue with Ethiopian authorities.
The Media freedom group, Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said Mirkana who works for the state-run broadcaster Oromia radio and television station was arrested at his Addis Ababa home on Saturday.
CPJ said it could not determine the reason for Mirkana’s arrest.
However, sources indicate that his arrest came as the TV broadcaster he works for gave multiple coverage over the unrest in larger parts of tahe Oromia region.
CPJ urged authorities in Ethiopia to release news anchor Mirkana.
“Journalists have a vital role to play in ensuring the flow of information, both from the Ethiopian government and also, critically, from those who will be affected by its decisions” said CPJ Africa Program Coordinator, Sue Valentine.
“We call on authorities to release Fikadu Mirkana immediately”, she added.
The New York-based media freedom group said it is not clear where the journalist is being held and neither his family nor his lawyers have been allowed access to him.
“The Ethiopian authorities in Addis Ababa and the Ethiopian embassy in Nairobi did not immediately respond to CPJ’s request for details about Fikadu’s arrest” said CPJ.
The horn of Africa’s nation has long been under fire by right groups over increasing crack down against independent media.
A report by the Human Rights Watch (HRW) released earlier this year shows that more than 30 journalists were forced to flee the country in 2014 in fear of being arrested under repressive laws.
The report claimed that some 22 journalists, bloggers, and publishers were criminally charged that same year and further six privately owned publications were shut down in reprisal for expressing critical views.
Ethiopian authorities have previously arrested a number of critical journalists working for the private media but it is rare to see journalists working for government media being jailed.
Addis Ababa denies allegations that journalists are being arrested in direct connection with their profession.
Ethiopian officials argue that journalists are prosecuted because some of them used their profession to engage in criminal activities including collaboration with terrorist organizations to incite public violence.
According to CPJ’s 2015 prison census, Ethiopia is the third largest jailer of journalists on the African continent, with at least 10 journalists behind bars.
(ST)