Borkena
Toronto – DW responds to the suspension of its reporters in Ethiopia over alleged violations of media law. It is urging the government to reinstate licenses of reporters.
Barbara Massing, DW Director, is cited as saying “The restriction on coverage from Ethiopia is very concerning.” Nine journalists working across Ethiopia for the broadcaster not covering stories currently following what was described as temporary suspension.
In a response to the Ethiopian Mass Media Authority (EMA), the director stated that millions of Ethiopians ” continue to rely on us [DW] for neutral and independent information. Let our colleagues continue their work now without a restriction.”
From what she wrote, based on DW Amharic report, the closure of VOA Amharic service seems to have had an impact on the increase in reliance on DW Amharic service.
On Thursday, the source announced that it had received a letter from EMA which stated that DW Amharic reporters are “temporarily suspended.
The authorities allege that the suspension is due to violation of law, hate speech and false information. However, the letter sent to the Broadcaster unspecified the contents it labelled so.
DW requested detailed explanation of the alleged violations of the legislations and identity the contents that are said to have caused the suspension.
The authority is also urged to lift the suspension urgently.
The Amharic division of DW will continue operation with its employees in Bonn and other parts of the world, it was stated. DW Amharic cited a report from Reporters Without Borders to highlight that Ethiopia is ranked 145 out of 180 countries that impose censorship on media.
Repression of Press Freedom has been intensifying in recent months in Ethiopia to the point that Journalists were abducted from Work place and even residence (read detail here)
On the other hand there have been reports of egregious human rights abuse – including extrajudicial killings and drone attacks targeting civilians – in connection with the conflict in the country. Although notable human rights organizations – including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch – reported about it, there have also been reports that the violations are unreported due to government restriction on journalists and human rights investigators.
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A very brutal dictator like Abiy with his prosperity party has a lot of crimes to hide. They don’t need any journalist who disturb.
Great work by gov’t for identifying and solving such issues. Yes, Ethiopia is no longer run by a puppet, in the name of media all foreign medias has played a major role in our recent years’ politics. One fact, none of the foreign medias in Ethiopia never worked fairly, they are there for their own objectives and they don’t care for the country. They have interests and that’s why they are there. Ethiopian gov’t should continue arresting and deporting such individuals or medias who are taking advantage of our backward politicians. Leave us alone!!