New York, August 5, 2008—Ethiopian police in the capital, Addis Ababa, threatened on Monday to block distribution of an independently owned newspaper if it continues its leading coverage of a new political opposition movement, according to local journalists.
The Amharic-language weekly Awramba Times reported today that it had received two separate phone warnings from top police officials to stop any coverage of “anti-constitutional organizations,” Editor Dawit Kebede told CPJ. The warning referred to the paper’s extensive coverage of the activities of the Netherlands-based Ginbot 7 movement.
Named after the May 15 date in the Ethiopian calendar (the date recalls election day in the 2005 disputed general elections), the movement headed by leading opposition figure Berhanu Nega calls for “all kinds and means of struggle” to challenge the government, according to CPJ research. In its July 29 edition, Awramba Times reported Ginbot 7’s launch of a radio program broadcasting into Ethiopia via satellite and the Internet, according to Kebede.
“In a country that claims to embrace democratic ideals, police have no business telling newspaper editors what political coverage they can and cannot run,” said CPJ Africa Program Coordinator Tom Rhodes. “The authorities must stop these crude attempts at intimidation and censorship and allow Awramba Times to publish the news it wants.”
Local journalists said Awramba Times was preparing to issue a special edition this week celebrating its first six months since obtaining a publishing license as one of the first independently owned political publications since the government banned more than a dozen critical newspapers in a brutal 2005 crackdown on the press and political dissidents. Kebede spent 21 months in prison and was released only last year on conditional pardon. Kebede was imprisoned with Nega, who was one of dozens of political dissidents jailed during the crackdown.
CPJ recently protested a pending media bill in Ethiopia that would, among other things, allow prosecutors to summarily impound any print publication deemed a threat to public order or national security. In 2007, the Committee to Protect Journalists named Ethiopia the world’s worst backslider on press freedom.
CPJ is a New York-based, independent, nonprofit organization that works to safeguard press freedom worldwide. For more information, visit www.cpj.org.
August 5th, 2008 at 4:28 pm
Look weyane exactly know its enemy. Weyane knows that Ginbot 7 will achieve and gain Ethiopian people attention. This exactly shows us weyane has already scared the formation of Ginbot 7. Wow…bravo Ginbot 7. I feel bad about the publishers of the private press for receiving a daily threat from weyane mafia groups along with the detention. However, we all have to know that weyane can be easily removed with the steps that will eventually taken by Ginbot 7. So let’s all contribute our part to ginbot 7. In addition to that lets all update the Ethiopian people in Ethiopia by sharing our views about Ginbot 7. We have an obligation to do as the Ethiopian publishers do. Let’s deliver all news about Ginbot 7 to the Ethiopian people. Let’s also support the leaders of ginbot 7 by any means possible.
Go Ginbot 7 Go…..
August 5th, 2008 at 4:29 pm
It is expected.because G7 is the main headch for Meles regime.
Longlive G7!!!
August 5th, 2008 at 4:30 pm
G7? GIVE M A BREAK.:)
August 5th, 2008 at 4:37 pm
መረጃን በማፈን የህዝብን የነጻነት ጥማት ማፈን አይቻልም::በመረጃ ዘመን ኢንፎርሜሽንን ለመገደብ መሞከር ጭንቀትን ያሳይ ካልሆነ በቀር ድካሙ ከንቱ ነው::
ድርጊቱ:ግንቦት 7ትን የበለጠ እየወደድኩት እንድመጣ አድርጎኛል::ግንቦት 7ቶች በርቱልን!ጠንክሩልን!ከጎናችሁ ነን::ወደፊት!!!
August 5th, 2008 at 4:55 pm
Hagos Araya =ኤሊያስ ከፍለ የ እሪትሪያ ሰላየ
August 5th, 2008 at 5:09 pm
DIMA
YOU ARE GOING CREAZY SOOON
August 5th, 2008 at 5:18 pm
Dima and Nebil;
weyane foot soldiers, hold your horses. There is a huge support for G7 and UDJ. Any amount of propaganda trying to link G7, Elias Kifle and Shabia is not going to work. Ethiopians know who is their enemy. As it stands now, Weyane is number 1. Like G7 told you already, Weyane can not dictate who G7 can work with, they can work with the devil if they think that is necessary. That is why most of us are drawn to G7. Weyane no more can set the agenda like it did in the past. The game is totally changed now. UDJ will intensify the struggle inside the country and G7 will work from the outside. Weyane will be forced to either to open up the democratic space or the support for G7 will be intensified. So which one is it? either way, Ethiopians will be the winner in the end.
August 5th, 2008 at 6:20 pm
Nebil and Dima,
You can go hell if you are not happy how G7 struggles. We don’t need woyane’s permission to conduct our struggle.Alas
August 5th, 2008 at 6:30 pm
DEAR EMF
This website is almost becoming like ER by reporting false story PLEASE report only the facts. The Police threatened the paper as a result of publishing details of Teddy Afro case NOT G7 as you claim. This kind of fabricated reporting could only damage the credebility of the Ginbot7 movment.
August 5th, 2008 at 6:50 pm
what happens Fabu?EMF reported the news based on CPJ[Committie to Protect Journalists] realease.you can see it on CPJ blog.
where is fabrication report here?also you can see the paper of Awramba times,which is posted on EMF site before.reporting about G7 is strictly for bidden for the whole paper and journalists in Ethiopia at this moment.
why? the answer is for you.
So, please my brother,check once CPJ realese before you comment on this news.
LONG LIVE G7!!!
GO G7!!!
ANBESAW G7!!!
August 5th, 2008 at 7:38 pm
Where is the Democracy ????????
Ethiopias national langauge should be changed from Amhara minority language (Amharic) to ethiopias majority (Afaan oromoffiaa).
August 5th, 2008 at 9:01 pm
for fubu I want u to see ethiozare website and check it everything and then you can blame.
But I know one thing,weyane is very dangerious and evil to do whatever they want to do.B/c they have natural things ,they are father’s of false,if they don’t like you,they kill you any place with out any fear of God.
August 5th, 2008 at 9:03 pm
for fubu I want u to see ethiozare website and check it everything and then you can blame.
But I know one thing,weyane is very dangerious and evil to do whatever they want to do.B/c they have no natural things ,they are father’s of false,if they don’t like you,they kill you any place with out any fear of God.
August 6th, 2008 at 3:53 am
GGGGGGGGGGGGG—7 FOR FRIDOM GGGGGGGG-UNIT 7 FOR NEW GENERATION, WE NEVER STOP. NO BODY CAN NOT STOP US’
August 6th, 2008 at 7:30 am
ወያነ ገዳይ
አይዝዋችህ ወገኖች
ግንቦት 7 በክርቡ አሪፍ ዚና ያስማናል
የ ወያነ መንደር ይታመሳል
ባንዳም ይርበተበታል
ሆዳም የበላውን የ ህዝብ ደም ይተፋል
የ ህዝብ እንባ ይታተባል
ሃገራችን ሰላም ይነግሳል
መለስ አርቃዊ
በረከት ስሞን
ስብሃት ነጋ
አቦይ ሥህየ
አዲሱ ለገሰ
ሳሞራ የኑስ
ከማል በድረ
ልደቱ ክህደቱ
በየነ ፐትርሮስ
ለፍርድ ይቀርባሉ
August 6th, 2008 at 11:33 am
ኦቦ ሚደቅሳ በ እውነተኝኣዉ ስምህ ግደይ ወይም ሃጎስ ህሳብህ አይከፋም ግን አንተና ዘመዶችህ ሰትጤቀሙበት ያለውና የነበረዉ የመከፋፈል እና ሰዉን እርስ በርስ የማጋጬት ፎርሙላ ተበልቶበታል:: አሁን ዝም ብሎ አንተንና ያበዱ መርዘኝኣ ዘመዶችህን ባዶ ሜዳ ላይ ስትቅበዘበዙ እያየን ናቹ ነን::መዳኝኣ በሌለው በሽታችሁ ያንንም ያንንም ስትለክፉ ስትነድፉ አመታት ተቆጤርኡ:: የገዛ በሽታችሁ አቃጥሎ ና አንገብገቦ ራሳችሁን ይፈጃችሕኣል:: ዙሪያችሁን የእድሜ ልክ ጥላቶችን አፍርታችሃል::በሰሜን ኢርትራ በመህል ሰፊዉ ህዝብ በደቡብ ሱማሌ በዉጭ ካለው ዲያስፖራ እንዲሁ ከዛም ከዛም ተላክፋችህ ቤተስክያን የገባች ዉሻ ሆናችህዋል:: የቀረው ነገር ያ ያበደው መሪያቹህ ጥሎ እስኪጤፋ ወይም እራሱን እስኪያጤፋ ድረስ ብቻ ነው የሚጤበቀው:: ያበደች ዉሻ የትም መሔጃ የላትም ተመልሳም ለጜቶቸዋ ታማኝ አትሆንም::እብድ ይሻለዋል እንጂ አይድንም::
August 6th, 2008 at 12:08 pm
To my woyane friends, don’t waste your energy. g7 has not been shy about its intentions. It wants to overthrow you. The days of begging for a peaceful participation are over.
August 6th, 2008 at 3:11 pm
Mr. Madeksa,
Who is Majority in Ethiopia, Oromos or Amharas ?
August 6th, 2008 at 3:18 pm
እንሆ የአስራሰባት አመቱ የቤተሰብ ዲሞክራሲ የህንን ይመስላል:: አሉታ ኮንትኒዋ ትግሉ ይቀጥላል:: አትናገር አትጽፍም እትተነፍስም የባልና የሚስት ረገጥኣ ብሶበታል::” ኢትዮጵያ ዉስጥ አገዛዝ እንጂ መንግስት የለም” ፕ. መሰፈን የተናገሩት እነሆ በ ም እ ራ ብያውያን የተወለደ ዲሞክራሲ በ አሜሪካዉያን አደጎ በ ትግራዩ የቤተሰብ አገዛዝ ቡደን በኢትዮጵያ ተቀበረ:: ዳግም ዲሞክራሲ ልክ እንደባለፈው አብዮት ልጆቾአን በግንቦት ወር በላች ዋጥ አደረገች ሰልቅጥጥ አደረገች:: ዘመነ ዉሽንፍር የደደቢት ዲሞክራሲ + ማሌሊት = ትልቅ አንባገነንነት ፈጤረ :: እንሆ መዋረጃዋም ወቅት ደረሰ ::ዳግም ወደ ኢትዮጵያ ላትመለስ ቃል ገብታ ገምታ ተግማምታ መቀመቅ ትወርዳለች::አቤት የዚያን ጊዚ….
August 6th, 2008 at 4:26 pm
slugger
Call them by their real name “to my woyane enemys”
August 7th, 2008 at 2:12 am
Ethiopia is one nation under God with diverse cultural heritage. Let us unite to strengthen that heritage and enjoy the fruit thereof with genuine mutual respect. Let us act effectively to shorten the power monopoly of the tyrant, Meles