Press release - 26 August 2008- Reporters Without Borders is dismayed to learn that Amare Aregawi, the editor of the big-circulation weekly Reporter, was arrested on 22 August in Addis Ababa and was then illegally transferred to a prison in Gondar, 750 km north of the capital, in connection with a libel case brought by the Gondar-based Dashen brewery. Reporters Without Borders
“The Ethiopian government reminds the press about the law so often that it is hard to understand how it allows prosecutors to violate it so openly,” Reporters Without Borders said. “Amare’s unjustified arrest exposes the unfairness of legislation that allows journalists to be imprisoned for defamation. His newspaper dared to question a big company’s practices. Now he, like the reporter who wrote the offending article before him, are paying the price for having the courage to do their job properly and serve the public interest. He should be released at once.”
Police from the Amhara region arrested Amare on the afternoon of 22 August at his office in the Addis Ababa headquarters of Media and Communication Centre, a company that owns two well-known weeklies, the Amharic-language Reporter and the English-language The Reporter.
Journalists who were present at his arrest told Reporters Without Borders that the police were also looking for deputy editor Eshete Assefa and Teshome Neku, the young reporter who wrote the article last month quoting two former Dashen brewery employees as saying they were wrongfully dismissed. Neither Eshete nor Teshome were in the office at the time.
Amare, who ran Ethiopia’s public television after the fall of the Derg dictatorship in 1991, was initially taken to the headquarters of the Addis Ababa police. He was later transferred to Gondar where he appeared in court yesterday. A member of the newspaper’s staff told Reporters Without Borders that the prosecutor and judge offered to release Amare on bail in Gondar, but he refused on the grounds that it was illegal for him to have been taken there.
Under a new press law that was adopted last month, defamation cases are supposed to be tried in the place where the alleged offence took place. As Reporter’s registered headquarters is in Addis Ababa, the case should be heard in the capital and there were no grounds for taking Amare to such a remote location.
A few days after the article appeared, Teshome was arrested and taken to Gondar, where he was freed on bail after three days. The judge who ordered his release told the prosecutor that Teshome should be tried before a court in Addis Ababa because the newspaper was duly registered there.
A second story about the unfair dismissals at the brewery, published by Reporter on 20 July, quoted two representatives of the Confederation of Ethiopian Employee Associations (CEEA), who accused the brewery’s management of breaking up its union, firing its leader, setting up a new, company-controlled union and other illegal practices.
————–
ETHIOPIE
Le célèbre rédacteur en chef de l’hebdomadaire Reporter arrêté pour une enquête mettant en cause les pratiques d’une grande entreprise
Reporters sans frontières a appris avec consternation l’arrestation, le 22 août 2008, d’Amare Aregawi, rédacteur en chef de l’hebdomadaire privé à grand tirage Reporter, et son transfert illégal dans une prison à 750 km de la capitale, pour une affaire de prétendue “diffamation” contre une entreprise de brassage de bière.
“Le gouvernement éthiopien rappelle si souvent la presse à la loi qu’il est incompréhensible qu’il tolère que celle-ci soit ouvertement bafouée par le ministère public. De plus, la détention injustiée d’Amare Aregawi montre toute l’inéquité d’une législation qui permet l’incarcération des journalistes dans les affaires de diffamation. Son journal a osé mettre en cause les pratiques d’une puissante entreprise. Son rédacteur en chef, après le journaliste auteur de l’article, paye aujourd’hui de sa liberté le courage d’avoir bien fait son métier et d’avoir servi l’intérêt public. Il doit être libéré au plus vite”, a déclaré l’organisation.
Amare Aregawi a été arrêté à son bureau du siège de la société Media and Communication Center, propriétaire des célèbres hebdomadaires en amharique Reporter et en anglais The Reporter, à Addis-Abeba, le 22 août en fin de journée, par une unité de la police régionale d’Amhara. Des journalistes présents au moment de l’arrestation ont déclaré à Reporters sans frontières que la police était également à la recherche du journaliste Teshome Neku et du rédacteur en chef adjoint, Eshete Assefa, absents à ce moment-là.
Amare Aregawi, ancien directeur de la télévision publique après la chute de la dictature du “Derg”, a d’abord été conduit au quartier général de la police d’Addis-Abeba, avant d’être transféré à Gondar (Nord), une ville à 750 km de la capitale où se trouve le siège de la brasserie Dashen, qui a récemment porté plainte pour “diffamation” contre le journal.
Après trois jours de détention, le journaliste a comparu devant un tribunal de Gondar. Selon une source au sein du journal interrogée par Reporters sans frontières, il a refusé la libération sous caution proposée par le juge et acceptée par le procureur, estimant que sa détention à Gondar était illégale. La loi sur la presse éthiopienne, adoptée en juillet 2008, prévoit en effet que les affaires de diffamation soient jugées dans la juridiction où le délit a été commis. Reporter étant un journal dûment enregistré à Addis-Abeba, rien ne justifie le transfert du rédacteur en chef dans un endroit si reculé du pays.
Les poursuites ont été engagées après la publication, en juillet 2008, d’un article signé par Teshome Neku, un jeune journaliste de Reporter, donnant la parole à deux employés de la brasserie Dashen estimant qu’ils avaient été licenciés abusivement. Quelques jours après la publication de l’article, le journaliste avait été arrêté et conduit à Gondar, puis libéré sous caution après trois jours de détention. Le juge devant lequel il avait comparu avait expliqué au procureur que le journaliste devait être poursuivi devant un tribunal d’Addis-Abeba, où l’hebdomadaire est légalement enregistré.
Le 20 juillet, Reporter avait publié un nouvel article sur les licenciements abusifs de salariés de la brasserie, donnant notamment la parole à deux responsables de la Confédération des associations d’employés éthiopiens (CEEA). Ils dénonçaient la dissolution du syndicat de la brasserie par la direction et le licenciement de son responsable. Dans cet article, les deux syndicalistes condamnaient également la formation d’un nouveau syndicat contrôlé par la direction et certaines pratiques illégales des patrons de la brasserie.
__________________________________________
Leonard VINCENT
Bureau Afrique / Africa desk
Reporters sans frontières / Reporters Without Borders
47, rue Vivienne
75002 Paris, France
Tel : (33) 1 44 83 84 76
Fax : (33) 1 45 23 11 51
Email : afrique@rsf.org / africa@rsf.org
Web : www.rsf.org
August 26th, 2008 at 9:27 am
Here WE GO!
August 26th, 2008 at 9:43 am
“Yibelewu yejun newu yagegnewu” yemitilu kalachihu tesasitachihual. After all, this is fake. He is the patriot of TPLf who did all out of ethics of journalism to protect the interest of wolves of Dedebit. Believe me his arrest is simply a show,,,to compromise the interst of Bereket’s TPLF in Amhara with Zenawi’s TPLF of Tigray. He is one of the biggest bussiness share holder with circles of TPLf and the safe guard of the regime. How come,,,,,no,,,do not fool yourself man,,,,Amare is always safe so long as TPLF is in power….he is the key participant in the making of economic and politcal supermacy of TPLF and its cliques.
August 26th, 2008 at 9:51 am
now he knows how we felt about our brothhers and sisters its realy good ,even teddy desrve to be in jail cuz when he came out from jail will join our struggle i love ittt
August 26th, 2008 at 9:56 am
I don’t think this is serious. It looks fake. They wanted to send message as if Amare is an independent critics of weyane. He is Woyane.
August 26th, 2008 at 9:59 am
እ
August 26th, 2008 at 10:02 am
ወያኔ ወያኔን የሚያስረው አይመስለኝም:: ምናልባትም አቶ አረጋዊ ጎንደር/መተማ ወይም ሁመራ/አካባቢ ወያኔ ወደትግራይ annex ባደረግው መሬት ላይ invest ሊያደርግ ይሆናል እንጅ ወደ ጎንደር የሔደው ለመታሰር አይመስለኝም:: በመተና ሁመረ ለመስራት ከመቀሌ ይልቅ በጎንደር ስለሚቀርብ ፕሮጀክቱን ከጎንደር እየተንቀሳቀሰ ለመስራት ፈልጎ ይሆናል ወደ ጎንደር የሄደው::
August 26th, 2008 at 10:11 am
You people that commented are seriously insane. The man is in jail and all you come up with is this is not true or good for him. And you are talking about freedom and democracy for all. Gud neo eko. Hope and pray that God would set everyone free including those that are imprisoned by hatred and revenge.
Tazabe
August 26th, 2008 at 10:15 am
አይ ሰው !!
August 26th, 2008 at 10:23 am
who cares, after all he played a role in TPLF camp. He better get used to it.
August 26th, 2008 at 10:29 am
That smells fishy woyanie staging yet another drama to confuse us. that fat man would loose a lot of wight if it was genuine arrest. his face is still pumping out a lot of kibe and tire siga. GIVE US A BREAK WOYANIE THUGS . we are sick and tired of your sick games. JUST RELEASE TEDI AFRO WE DON’T GIVE A TOSS WHAT YOU DO WITH FAT CAT AMERE WHATEVER.
August 26th, 2008 at 10:40 am
Pull my leg!!!!
what a fake story!!! Did you notice the emphasis in the report,” amhara police”, haha. If it was in addis, do they need to mention the “amhara” descriptive word for police? how come a police from amhara region came to addis and kidnap amare aregawi. what a crap story!
it is shame for EMF to publish such story. it just simply shows you guys are not an inch ahead of woyanes mind.
comeon wake up!
Amare is in good hands. I like reporter but he is woyane, belive it or not that is the truth.
mick
August 26th, 2008 at 10:43 am
If this news is real it is good( Essseeeeyeeeeeee) and simply shows the trend project of Meles Syetanawi that doesn’t even care for the Tigrians TPLF members that we have seen the death of Haylom and knife and the removal of Seye and Geberu and others. It just follows that Meles Seytanawi doent even care to anyone when it comes to its power. In addition to that it just simply shows that the so called Tigrians TPLF memers are just pupputs to meles sytanwi but can’t make any decision or cant confront meles sytanwi but simply carriers of his destructive policy. On the other hand it shows that the so called non-Tigrian who are serving the TPLF mafia group are also waiting their day to be kicked out by meles Seytanwi.
Actually, I remember that when meles Sytanwi personally insults HODAM Addis Leggesse as “ any ordinary farmer is a whole lot better than you” and addis legesse didn’t even confront instead he faces down to the earth and walks away from meles seytanwi before meles seytanwi would done any further measure on him, such as taking down him to prison or killing him.
Look this simply shows that not only Ethiopia as a country the whole stupid party TPLF is controlled by one person who is Meles Seytanwi, shame on the members of tplf and shame on the servers of tplf and shame on the hodam cadres of tplf….
By the way if amare aregawi who is a member of TPLF is arrested to play on the public …we don’t care about the poor propaganda of weyane, we will continue to fight the weyane gangsters while they are playing a poker on Ethiopian people…regardless if he got arrested it is a good news if not amare argawi will be arrested along with main crime orchestrators of weyane including Meles Seytanwi and other HODAM members and servers of Weyane…..
Death to Weyane members and supporters!!!!!!
August 26th, 2008 at 11:08 am
I don’t believe Woyane would arrest Amare. I know this guy one of the defender of the criminals regime. This guy wistnessed who he is after 2005 election ‘Yekirt ken’. They need him and the likes to pretend there is a free press.
I think the arrest is just to send a simple messege the tribal thugs are quite tough guys to any one. One thing they don’t understand is the Ethiopian people is a lot of kms a head of them.
Pesonally i get tired of such foolish game. We will see Amare will be released in a couple of days.
August 26th, 2008 at 11:27 am
አብዮት ልጆችዋን መብላት ጀመረች እንዴ ቂቂቂቂቂ
ሌባን ሌባ ቢሰርቀው ምን ሊደንቀው ቂቂቂቂቂ
August 26th, 2008 at 11:35 am
እርስ በርስ መባላት ጀመሩ እንዴ:: ቀጣዮቹ የሚሆኑት ደግሞ ሚሚ ስብሃቱና እትዮ ፈርስት ዳት ካም አዘጋጅ አቶ ቢንያም ይሆናሉ::ወታደራዊ ዲሞክራሲ ልጅዎችዋን እየበላች ነው::
August 26th, 2008 at 11:38 am
ሰው ሲታሰር እና ሲስቃይ ማያት ቀርቶ መስማት አልፈልግም ነገር ግን ለ17 አመታት አማረ ሐረጋዊን አውቃለሁ በዚህ ረጅም አመታት በ እትዮዽያ ላይ የፈጸመውን እጅግ ያፈጣጠውና ያገጣጠ : ጆሮ አደንቕሪ: አፍ የሚያዘጋ :አንገት የሚያስደፋ…ወ.ዘ.ተ…በደሎችን ያደረሰ :ለ እትዮዽያ ነጻ ፕረስ ጋዜጣኞች መበታተንንና ለፕረስ መሞት አንዱ ሰው በመሆኑ በ17 አመት የሱ መታሰር አይገርመኝም::
August 26th, 2008 at 12:35 pm
What a fake story! It would take a lot more than one day arrest to convince me that TPLF has given up on Amere. He is their best servant. How can one throw such an asset to a prison. There is something fishy about this game, we better not pay attenation to it.
August 26th, 2008 at 12:36 pm
I wish this is for real and that he gets what he deserves…This is the very small part of the injustices that we were complaining about while u, amare, were giving a full support. U were rather giving us this and that name to degrade our struggle for freedom. I know my wish is not gonna be true now, it is just a trick that u guys do to get your market back…to look free and fair media. Tell that to ur mother…we know what u guys think… you guys are so predictable and trash…
August 26th, 2008 at 12:47 pm
wake up EMF! How could you trust this news and post it here? Even if it is the ethics of journalism to inform the public about every news ,you have to differentiate the FAKE AND THE GENUINE ! I think this is also a MUST FOR YOU !
Tola
August 26th, 2008 at 1:22 pm
Meles will not snare Meles. How could Mele’ chop his hand. Can one do that. Absolutely NOT. So it goes without saying that this is totally a fabricated story to mock on all of US-the fat heads.
Remember this. When Isyaas Afeworki opens a bad mouth on Meles and Meles kicks back you conclude that they have quarrelled. Why would they. It is all a fabrication to ease the tension and for media consumption.They lived for over 17 years now and they will seemingly stay quarrelled.
Ethio media is known for advising the public not to fool ourselves on the tactics and of disminating false rumor by TPLF.
Is it clear now.
They will not send Amare for sure to jail. But they want to convince the public and the International Community of Journalism that they leave no bound and knows no rank to trap even among their cliques, if need be. This they call it good governance. But they will not tamper to jail Amare. They will simply dissminate that he is in their custody. That is all. They will disminate this until the public is convinced and believe them that they make no discrimination in applying the rule of law on their subjects. This is again politics for them-to convince the Community that they even opt to apprehend those offenders among their clan and party members for genuine cause.
So they will keep on dissminating this [without touching Amare as he stays fabulously in Addis] and one day will continue to truely jail other private press opposition symphatizers.
So again, I advice every Journalist to square off as this is a true sign that they are preparing them as a sweet cake to devour one day may be in the coming days.Be careful
August 26th, 2008 at 1:29 pm
“Amare Aregawi arrested for brewery’s labour report”
This is the same trick Woyane used to spy on Kinijit leaders in Kaliti. No Adwa born TPLF agent will be sent to prison for real . This fake stroy is fabricated to implant a TPLF spy among our true brothers and reporters who are in jail currently
Dear EMF you sound more and more like Elias Keflom of Shabia Agent
PLEASE REPORT TRUE STORY ONLY
August 26th, 2008 at 1:32 pm
አየ ቀልድ. እንዲህም ትጀመረ? ሌላ ዘዴ ጠፋ? ወዳጆቼ ይህ ቀልድ ጊዜ መግዣ ነዉ. መዘናጋት የለብንም. አማረ እኮ አይናዉጣ ካድሬ ነዉ. ይህን ማጭበርበሪያ ለዋልታ እና ለ አይጋ ፎረም እንተወዉ. እኛ ወደ ዋናዉ ጸረ-ወያኔ ሲራችን እንመለስ.
ሞት ለወያኔ እና ላጨብጫቢዎቹ!
አሜን!
ባሻ አዬሎም
August 26th, 2008 at 2:06 pm
This is a fake story.Why would woyane imprison one of them without any valid reason. We might not know what these woyane thugs are trying to accomplish with this useless propoganda. There is one thing I am almost cetain of it. That is: One day every criminal woyane will be picked up and thrown to the cage forever, where they belong. In near future these criminal animals will be getting justice. Aregawi will be one of them. But for now let the charade continues.
August 26th, 2008 at 2:37 pm
dowen with anty tigray ppl. like hagos araya gumary.
tigraians are also eprp warriors dedeb.dont come here
to tell us againest tigraians. hodam
August 26th, 2008 at 2:42 pm
This all is fake Game.
This man is number one woyane. They are just playing games. He will be released soon.
How many times should you be tricked Ethiopians? How come illitrates from Dedebit trick you? Wake up!
August 26th, 2008 at 3:23 pm
I don’t think for a minute this is for real. This is just another ploy by the TPLF thugs to burnish Amare Aregawi’s credibility as a fair minded, independent news maverick. The funny thing is, they can’t even lie straight. They tell us he was picked up from his office in Addis NOT by the ‘Federalis’, but by ‘the Amhara region police’, what a load of crap! This is also a coded warning to the people of Tigrai that, no matter where you are, the Amharas could always come and get you, so you better stick with us.
Amare Aregawi is one of the most dangerous and cunning TPLF mouth pieces, that was able to brand himself as an independent voice on some non issues, to gain the trust of the masses when spouting pro TPLF propaganda. One thing we all need to understand is, no matter what the TPLF thugs are pretending to do to him; when the chips are down, Amare Aregawi will throw his lot with the TPLF. This is called subtle infiltration. You see, unlike the editors of Aiga and Walta, who spout TPLF lies and nonsense 24×7, Amare is allowed to criticize TPLF on some lightweight non issues so that he can fool ER and EMF that he is their side too.
I am amazed that ER and EMF are posting non news like this without doing their proper homework first.
August 26th, 2008 at 3:33 pm
where are the Ethiomedia.com people talking about it? because they know its fake.
August 26th, 2008 at 3:46 pm
ላጭር ጊዜ ነዉ የሚያስሩት አንዘናጋ!! ትንሽ ጎንትሎአቸዋል- በክቡር ሚኒስትር፡ የሼኩን የኢንቨስትመንት(ሌብነት) በሚያጋልጡ እና በመሳሰሉት ጽሁፎቹ!!
August 26th, 2008 at 6:51 pm
በእርግጥ ለብዙ ጊዜ አያስሩትም::ደግሞ በዋስ እንዲፈታ ተወስኑዋል::ግን የቤት ልጅ ነውና ጉዳዩ ወደ አዲስ አበባ ካልዞረ አልፈታም ብሎ ሙልቅቅ አለ;; በወያኔ ላይ እንዲሞላቀቅ የተፈቀደለት ይህ ሰው ማን ቢሆን ነው?
በሌላ በኩል ሰውየውን በቅርብ አውቀዋለሁ:: ያለችው ኢጎ ትልቅ ናት::ለጥቂት ቀንም ቢሆን በረከት ክንዱን ሲያቀምሰው ያበጠችው ልቡ በንዴት እንደምትፈነዳ አልጠራጠርም::የኢትዮጵያ ነጻ ፐሬሶች እንዲጠፉ ቅስቀሳ ሲያደርግ: “ተው!ሌሎችን የሚያጠፋውን ስትደግፍ ለራስህ ጉድጉዋድ እያበጀህ ነው” ብለን መከርነው::አልሰማ አለ::ራሱ ባስቀመጠው ቁዋጥኝ መውሸልሸል ጀመረ::ማንም እንዲታሰር አልፈልግም;እንደ አማረ ስራ ግን …..እስኪ ሆድ ይፍጀው::ለማንኛውም “አይበናንዶ”
የሚለውን ዘፈን ጋብዘነዋል::
August 26th, 2008 at 7:06 pm
Surafel has put all the chips, together:
“I don’t think for a minute this is for real. This is just another ploy by the TPLF thugs to burnish Amare Aregawi’s credibility as a fair minded, independent news maverick. The funny thing is, they can’t even lie straight. They tell us he was picked up from his office in Addis NOT by the ‘Federalis’, but by ‘the Amhara region police’, what a load of crap! This is also a coded warning to the people of Tigrai that, no matter where you are, the Amharas could always come and get you, so you better stick with us.
Amare Aregawi is one of the most dangerous and cunning TPLF mouth pieces, that was able to brand himself as an independent voice on some non issues, to gain the trust of the masses when spouting pro TPLF propaganda. One thing we all need to understand is, no matter what the TPLF thugs are pretending to do to him; when the chips are down, Amare Aregawi will throw his lot with the TPLF. This is called subtle infiltration. You see, unlike the editors of Aiga and Walta, who spout TPLF lies and nonsense 24×7, Amare is allowed to criticize TPLF on some lightweight non issues so that he can fool ER and EMF that he is their side too.
I am amazed that ER and EMF are posting non news like this without doing their proper homework first.”
August 26th, 2008 at 8:00 pm
ይህ ማጭበርበር ነው ከሆነም ጥሩ ነው
ከበደ
August 26th, 2008 at 8:05 pm
Hello Dears,
Do not be cheated by big lier diry TPLF. Lie and cheating is their personal property that any one can not take from their hand. this is intentional way to cheat the diaspora.
On the other hand, look how the “zeregnas” aigaforum.com and ethiopiafirst.com are crying only this day while several journalists were assasinated and intemidated. Look the chain …Amare aregawi, TPLF servant is in prision…then…TPLF agents crying for fake…. All this is a well organized cheating!
Anzenaga gobez!!!! ዶሮን ሲታልሎት በ ሚን ነገር ታልዋት አሉ ….
August 26th, 2008 at 8:30 pm
I am surprised, where did they take him? Gonder? is that for vacation or there is something he needs to see and deceive?
August 26th, 2008 at 9:28 pm
Whether he is a TPLF or any other party supporter, the fact that he is an Ethiopian makes him deserve freedom. Whether or not it is fake, it is registered by activists of journalist rights, so could it be of much help to EPRDF?
Think out of revenge mentality. Do not enjoy emprisonment or any punishment to someone just because he is a TPLF supporter or leader. We need people who change the whole history of Ethiopia that has been marred with revenge and mercilessness to this date. Unless we wish freedom to every Ethiopian we cannot take our society out of vicious circle.
August 26th, 2008 at 9:30 pm
dear BIB-BIB do you understand what hero (true Ethiopian) Hagos write.He didn;t insult Tigria people , but he meantion the person who follow dictater melese syteanaw. Melese syteanaw have killed alot of tigrians and from other ethinics who oppose his dictater job. we have to stand together to stop this syteanaw melese. GOd bless Ethiopia.
August 26th, 2008 at 9:59 pm
All I want to know is what kind of Ge’ez font do you guys use? Even if I install your font again and again, it never worked on my PC. I have no problem with other sites, just yours. Can you not use the font used by all other sites?. I have difficulty with your font. Make it a unicode one.
August 26th, 2008 at 11:38 pm
ወያኔን ቅዱስ ነህ ያላለ እና በዘፈንም ሆነ በንግግር ወይም በጽሁፍም የነካካ ካለ እንደሚታሰር ወይም እንደሚገደል የታወቀ ነው::አማረ የሚባለው ሰውዬ ለወያኔ መንግስት የፕሬስ ጋሻ ጃግሬ ሆኖ ሰለ እውነት ሳይሆን ስለሆዱ ብዙ ብዙ ብሏል ተናግሯል::አሁንም ለ እስር የተዳረገው ስሞኑን በሚያውጣቸው አንቀጾች የኢትዮጵያ ህዝብ ያለበትን ችግር የኑሮ ውድነት ድርቅ የመሳሰሉትን በመዘገቡ ይመሰለኛል::ከንግዲህ የሚጠብቀው ነገር ቢኖር ሁለተኛ እንደዚህ አይነት ነገር እንዳይዘግብ አስፈርመው ወደ ቀደመው አገልጋይነቱ መመለስ ነው::ኢትዮጵያ የምትኖሩ የአገራችን ህዝቦች ሰለ ወያኔ አንዲት ነገር እንዳትተነፈሱ:ምክኒያቱም ወታደራዊ ዲሞክራሲ ሰልቱ እንደዚህ ነው. የ ባልና የሚስት ዲሞክራሲ መጨረሻው ይሄ ነው;ከአንድ ቤተሰብ ሰብስብ የሚሰጥው ዲሞክራሲ አፈጻጸሙ እንደዚህ ነው::
August 27th, 2008 at 12:43 am
እልልልልልልልልልልልልእንደው እልልልልልልልል..እሰይ ስለቴ ሰመረ ኣረሰይ ስለቴ ሰመረ የዛሬ አስር አመት ተስዬ ነበረ ኣረሰይ ስለቴ ሰመረ እሰይ ሰለቴ ሰመረ ለቅዱሱ መለስ ነግሬው ነበረ አረስይ ሰለቴ ሰመረ እሰይ ሰለቴ ሰመረ ለቅዱስትዋ ህዜብ ተማጽኛት ነበረ እሰይ ሰለቴ ሰመረ አረሰይ ስለቴ ሰመረ..አንድ እጁን ሽባ ባረገችው ..አንድ እግሩን ሽባ ባረገችው…ቅድስቲቱ ህዜብ አራት ኪሎ ያለሽው አንድ እጁን ሽባ ባረገው አንድ እግሩን ሽባ ባረገው..ሆዳሙ አማረ እስር ቤት ያለሕው…እረ እሰይ ዲሞክራሲ እረ እሰይ ዲሞክራሲ..እረ እሰይ ተጋዳላይ…እልልልልልልለልልለል…
August 27th, 2008 at 1:30 am
ማክዳ-
ምነው እህቱ ሆይ? ኸረ ቀዝቀዝ! እንዲህማ እግዜርም አይወድ::
August 27th, 2008 at 1:50 am
They took him so far away to Gonder. You see now how the Weyane Killil system works. Berket Simon will get him released in 1 phone call. thats all.
PLEASE BOYCOTT travel to ethiopia ! Support EPPF !
August 27th, 2008 at 1:55 am
he the one try to make weyanee saint we will not forgot it . i think he will visit the people he send them jail for sure . those suport weyanee you have time to quite now before they use you at the end and go to jail
August 27th, 2008 at 2:52 am
EMF,
Could you post the report about the brewery that caused Amare’s arrest?
thanks in advance.
AleQa Bru
August 27th, 2008 at 3:11 am
COMMITTEE TO PROTECT JOURNALISTS
330 Seventh Avenue, New York, NY 10001 USA Phone: (212) 465-1004 Fax: (212) 465-9568 Web: www.cpj.org
Ethiopian managing editor arrested
New York, August 26, 2008—The Committee to Protect journalists calls for the immediate release of Amare Aregawi, managing editor of the English- and Amharic-language newspaper Reporter, who has been detained since August 22 in northern Ethiopia.
Policemen from Ethiopia’s former capital of Gonder arrested Aregawi at his office in the capital, Addis Ababa, at 2 p.m. local time on August 22, according to defense lawyer Abdu Ali. Aregawi was held overnight in an Addis Ababa police station before being transferred some 260 miles (415 kilometers) north to Gonder, he said.
The arrest was linked to a story on a labor dispute between the employees and the management of the government-run Dashen Brewery, a Reporter journalist told CPJ on condition of anonymity. The story quoted employees alleging unlawful dismissals and reported the management’s refusal to comment on the allegations, according to the same source. The board chairman of the brewery, an investment of the ruling party’s Endowment Fund for the Rehabilitation of Tigray, is Bereket Simon, a top senior advisor to Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi.
Aregawi was not formally charged at a court hearing on Monday, but remains in the custody of police in Gonder, Ali told CPJ. A judge was not expected to rule on his petition for bail until September 1, after the public prosecutor requested additional time, he said.
“The arrest of Amare Aregawi highlights the Ethiopian government’s criminalization of critical coverage of issues of public interest,” said CPJ Africa Program Coordinator Tom Rhodes. “We call on the Ethiopian authorities to release Aregawi immediately and abandon these crude practices of intimidation, which ultimately cow the press into self-censorship.”
Aregawi was the second Reporter journalist held in connection with the story. Teshome Niku, the author of the story, was arrested on June 30 and released on bail, according to Ali. Niku is still officially under investigation. The English version of Reporter is weekly; the Amharic version is biweekly.
Ethiopian authorities routinely use police detentions, threats, legal, and administrative restraints to stop the handful of independently owned media outlets from covering sensitive topics. 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 27th, 2008 at 3:35 am
Don’t blow this stroy out of proportion. It is better to restrict ourselves to what we know. Here are a few points
1. Amare is chairman of Transparency International in Ethiopia!! (One of the cruelest jokes we heard in the last few years)
2. There is personal animosity between Amare and Bereket Sm’on. In the “pre-May-2005 period”, his column “Kbur Minister” was full of thinly veiled attacks on Bereket.
3. Bereket grew up in Gonder and was free to roam the bars there until the fateful May 2005 elections. (Is there some symbolism here?)
4. Bereket can easily get instructions to the Amhara Region Police to arrest Amare in Addis Ababa. This is a common practice (there was a case whereby the ditor of “Tomar” was arrested by Benshangul Police in a similar fashion)
5. Amare Aregawi was asenior meber and continues to be a staunch supporter of TPLF. It is not knwon whether he is still a member. As one of his greates contributions to the TPLF propaganda apparatus, we know that he personally trained all TPLF ‘journalists’ while they were in the bush.
His current arraest could serve 2 purposes
1. To send the message: We will not hesitate to attack even ‘one of our own’ if you don’t keep quiet
2. To stage a court drama a la Qnjit pardon so that the ‘whole wide world’ will see how fair the new press law is.
Let us wait and see.
August 27th, 2008 at 6:34 am
you like it or not woyane is your big boss. where ever you go there will be woyane. and i love woyane for its good job. like divolopement in our country and civlizetion withen our ppl. thanks woyane. long live woyane.
dowen with ppl who dont like good divolopement in our country & dowen
with power hunger neftegnas. internet warriors. hi by the way iam tigri
iam guragi and i have right to saport woyane coz they divolope our country than any governement. janihoy was a western wight men ass.
and mengistu known dictator but woyane is dimocrticlt ilected governement. but ppl cant change by manifestation like 3 years a go. hahahahah that doesnt work any where. long live EPRDF AND ITS DEAR PM.MELES ZENAWI. GOD BLESS OUR STRONG ARMY.
August 27th, 2008 at 8:24 am
Dear murad, you said “hi by the way iam tigriiam guragi and i have right to saport woyane”
Good for you! murad! But do not say you did not know this on that Daithful Day.
You better stick with your gurage side. Just my 2 cents.
Why?
Here is some article on that “Faithful day”. A lesson before it’s to late.
“By Assta B. Gettu
When that Day comes what will happen to the Tegarues (Tigreans)? That Day is to some a Day of doom; to others a Day of Joy and celebration, and that Day is the final Day of Meles Seitanawi (Zenawi).
After Meles Seitanawi’s regime is terminated and all of his political gangs have vanished from the face of the earth, I always fear many Ethiopians who have been marginalized for so many years under Meles’ political party whose main purpose has been to enrich the few selected tribes may retaliate disproportionately against the Tegarues, who are also to be Ethiopians but badly misguided by one of their evil sons – Meles Seitanawi.
To protect such fallen victims from being completely erased from the map of Ethiopia, the avengers – the Amharas, the Oromos, the Somalis in the Ogaden and the other Ethiopian tribes – must gingerly take immediate actions against those hot-tampered Ethiopians who want to destroy the Tegarues because of Meles’ vicious political leadership.
As in all wars or conflicts, the victors do not always completely destroy their enemies: some they capture and send them to jail, and some they pardon and send them home without harming them. In this way, all Ethiopians, it is my hope, are expected to do better than this toward the Tegarues, their own people, not their foreign enemies. This does not mean the few criminals must go unpunished, and most Ethiopians well know who these hard core criminals are and who have been terrorizing Ethiopia for almost twenty years. If captured, these evil men and women who have been eating the flesh and drinking the blood of the unfortunate Ethiopians should face justice and should be told what they have done to their own people and why they have done such heinous crimes against humanity.
The conflict in Ethiopia is a family conflict, and as such it could be solved by the Ethiopians themselves; in fact, it could have been solved long time ago if, for instance, Washington’s support for Meles Seitanawi were a legitimate one to help Ethiopia elect a democratic government.
Conflicts occasionally exist in a family, no matter how strong, or spiritual, the family is, and when the family is unable to solve its conflicts, a good neighbor comes in and tries to solve the conflict; however, Ethiopia, at this time, does not have a very concerned neighbor, thanks to Meles Seitanawi for a job well done in rendering Ethiopia almost a friendless nation.
The friendship between Ethiopia and the West is an artificial one on which Ethiopians should not rely at all; if it were a genuine one, the West, with all its overwhelming power and economic might, could have helped Ethiopia to remove the dictator Meles Seitanawi from his corrupt regime as the West helped Iraq by overthrowing Saadam Hussein; rather, the West has emboldened Meles Seitanawi by training his army and by financing his criminal activities continuously and shamelessly.
Therefore, when the conflict in Ethiopia comes to an end naturally or by waging war against Meles Seitanawi, the Tegarues who have not committed any crime should not fear any retaliation from the oppressed Ethiopian tribes, for most Ethiopians could remember the divine words: “Vengeance is mine” – and they should prevent themselves from shedding the bloods of some innocent Tegarues. The Apostle Paul firmly declares: “Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: ‘It is mine to avenge; I will repay,’ says the Lord” (Romans 12:19). These particular divine words should be learned diligently and practiced effectively by every Ethiopian who has the propensity to harm another Ethiopian from the region of Tigray.
When Meles Seitanawi divided the country on ethnic lines, the main purpose was to give the Tigreans an economic and political advantage over the other tribes without first thinking carefully what would happen to them after he leaves office. By doing special favor for them, he is, in fact, isolating them from the rest of the Ethiopian people and making them an easy target to fall into the hands of an angry mob from the other tribes of the Ethiopian people as soon as he is removed from power.
So in the long run, Meles is hurting the Tegarues rather than helping them, and some of the Tegarues may not yet realize the danger they are heading to after their master Meles Seitanawi abandons them and flees the country and asks for an asylum in America or Saudi Arabia to save his life before he is caught and handed over to the International Court for his crimes against his own people.
We may fail to identify all the criminals, but we will never fail to identify Meles, Azeb, Abune Paulos, and Al Amoudi when that final Day – a “Day of Reckoning” – comes, and those who escape from the wraths of the Ethiopian people on that final Day are those who have never given up their struggles to overthrow the Meles regime, and these heroes are the ones who can determine the final fate of the Tegarues.
These well-disciplined Ethiopian heroes will not automatically destroy everyone who speaks Tigrigna but carefully examine if one has been involved with Meles criminal activities when Meles was in power and bring him/her to justice. In this way, the innocent Tegarues are spared from being executed, and they will be reconciled with the rest of the Ethiopian people.
After all, most Ethiopians follow the teaching of Jesus, that is, they can forgive the Tegarues as many times as the Tegarues ask for forgiveness; what matters here the most is not revenge on one’s own people but forgiveness for the sake of Christ, who taught us to forgive our brothers and sisters and live together in peace. As it has been difficult to live in peace with our neighbors during Meles’ reign of terror, it would be possible for every Ethiopian to enjoy freedom and to live in peace under a democratically elected Ethiopian Prime Minister whose priority is the Ethiopian people not his/her own interest.
Someone may say that the Jews persecuted, one by one, the Nazi criminals wherever they had been hiding but forgave the world that failed to protect the Jews, and it would be the same thing with the oppressed Ethiopians: they would hunt the Meles family and his death squads and impel them to confess their atrocities toward the helpless Ethiopians but allow the peace-loving Tegarues to go free and work in their country without a fear of any reprisal from the other oppressed Ethiopians.
Mengistu Haile Mariam and Meles Seitanawi slaughtered many Ethiopian students, priests, and political leaders without giving them a chance to defend themselves in the court, but such offensive and arbitrary killings will never happen again in Ethiopia once Ethiopia has a democratically elected leader from whatever tribe he or she might be. This is my dream, and, I think, it is also the dreams of many Ethiopians in the diaspora and at home; of course, dreams sometimes may not come true, but I hope this time they will come true because Meles is morally, economically, and politically weaker than ever before.
The good Tegarues, the Amharas, the Oromos, and the many other Ethiopian tribes should stick together and work hard never to bring to power the evil leaders to govern them once the Meles regime is over through peaceful negotiation or arms struggles or through what ever means necessary.
No one in his or her right mind wants to see Ethiopians wage an ethnical war except Meles Seitanawi so that he could stay in power indefinitely; an ethnically divided country, like Ethiopia, may not prosper because of the conflict that exists among the different tribes, each tribe claiming superiority over the other tribe instead of thinking as one nation, as one Ethiopia. If, for example, the Tegarues believe in the Abay Tigray; the Oromos in their big number; and the Amharas in their Imperial dynasty, then such conflict of interest would take Ethiopia further to more disintegration and instability. Such uncalled for disintegration and instability would create continuous hostility between each tribe, and each tribe claiming victory over the other tribe and trying to subjugate the weaker tribe. In such rare or perhaps common cases, the weaker tribe may ally itself with the other stronger tribe, and the internal conflict will continue until a lasting solution to the conflict is found through a democratically elected leader, and this democratically elected leader will benefit not only the Tegarues who fear retaliations from the other tribes but all the tribes of Ethiopia after that final Day of doom for Meles Seitanawi and his entire political advisers.
August 27th, 2008 at 8:40 am
to asseged ( HAGOS ARAYA KKK )
soory man why you use many diferent nick names???
like hagos araya tes and many more. and now asseged.
shame on you man. you are a looser eritreawi or a neftegna who dream
power. any way do not worry about tegaru tigraian. never ever be terrorized by an fat ass like you. you can go and ask italian or other ethiopian enemys ok?. its the tigraian who defend ethiopian in the front
war ground. so go and vomit your shit some where ok mr hagos araya a shabian agent.
August 27th, 2008 at 9:04 am
Wodi titi.
Please do not kill the messenger. You should be ashamed calling me names for just passing warnings for your own and your Greater Tigray well being. Sheesh! Some people.
Please forgive me if I touch some nerve there. Seriously! Smile! (Big one this time)
August 27th, 2008 at 9:59 am
አይ አይ ሙራድ የቱ ጋር ነው እስቲ ሰሩ የምትለን እኛ ማናውቀው ካለ ንገረን ከመህል አገር ተዘርፎ በትግራይ ትልልቅ ፋብሪካውች ሲገነቡ አይተናል ::በተረፈ ምን ተደረገ? መንገድ እንደሆነ አንድ ጠጅ ቤት ከተማ ውስጥ ያለው ጉራጌ አገሩ ገጠር ገብቶ መንገድ ያሰራል ::ቢግ ዲል አይደለም::ትውልድ ከፍሎ የማይጨርሰውን እዳ እየተበደሩ በግራ በቀኙ ጦርነት ከማወጅ በስተቀር :ለራሳቸው በሚስታቸውና በልጆቻቸው ስም በውጭ አገር ባንኮች አካውንት ከመክፈት በስተቀር ;: አስራሰባት አመት ተዋጋን ብለው ያፈረሱትን ትምህርት ቤት የዘረፉትን ባንክ የናዱትን ድልድይ ያረሱትን ሆስፒታል ተቅዋማቶች ሁሉ; በአስራ ሰባት ክፍለ ዘመን ገንብተው አይጨርሱትም::
August 27th, 2008 at 10:00 am
Dearest Titi,
what a wolfish you are! what a blinded clique are you! As you open your arrogant mouth to defend the undefendable wedi Saytanawi, you showed us how empty is your head. I know, TPLF and its gangs like you have no a limit of comparison for de-making history. You advised us to ask Italians about your bravery, you told us to ask other Ethiopians (maybe referring to those who were hunted down by Agaz in June and Nov. 2005 in Addis Ababa and elsewhere) to justify how “patriotic” Tigres are!
Shame on you! After monopolizing the political and economic power of Ethiopia, now you claim to monopolize the history too by discrediting the blood paid by all Ethiopians to defend motherland. You tended to attribute the freedom of Ethiopia to TPLF. Wow,,,deQi Dedebit, how dedeb are you wedaje!
Do not worry, you will get it back. On the day you declare your dreamed “Republic”, then, you will witness actions of enemity. Ethiopians are tolerating all the burden for the integrity of the country. when that hope turns out to be a mere dust by Meles Devil, we shall see the limits of revenge…(I wish that doesn’t happen)
August 27th, 2008 at 10:06 am
ሙራዱ አንተ ስልጤ..አንቀጽ 39 ለኦጋዴን ህዝቦች የማይሰራው ለምንድን ነው? ነው ለትግራይ ብቻ ነው የተቀመጠው?
August 27th, 2008 at 5:05 pm
የዳሸን ቢራ ፋብሪካ አመራር በሰራተኛ…
Sunday, 20 July 2008
የዳሸን ቢራ ፋብሪካ አመራር በሰራተኛ ማህበር ጉዳይ ተወቀሰ
በተሾመ ንቁ
የዳሸን ቢራ ፋብሪካ አመራር አካላት የፋብሪካውን የሰራተኛ ማህበር በማፍረሳቸው በኢሰማኮና በሰራተኛ ማህበራት ፌዴሬሽን ተወቀሱ፡፡
የኢሰማኮ ኘሬዚዳንት አቶ ካሳሁን ፎሎ የፋብሪካው የሰራተኛ ማህበር ከህግ ውጭ መፍረሱንና የማህበሩ ሊቀመንበር አቶ ደጀኔ ታረቀኝና ምክትላቸው ከሥራ መታገዳቸውን ገልፀዋል፡፡ በዚህም “የፋብሪካው አስተዳደር ከህግ ውጭ በማህበሩ ላይ ተፅእኖ እያካሄደ ነው” በማለት ገልፀዋል፡፡ አቶ ካሳሁን የዳሸን ቢራ ፋብሪካ አመራር አካላት በተደጋጋሚ የሰራተኛ ማህበር የማፍረስ ተግባር ማከናወናቸውን ገልፀዋል፡፡
አቶ ካሳሁን እንደሚሉት የፋብሪካው አስተዳደር ከህግ ውጭ በሰራተኛ ማህበር ውስጥ በተደጋጋሚ ጣልቃ እንደሚገባ ተናግረዋል፡፡ አስተዳደሩ በቅርቡ ከአማራ ክልል ሰራተኛና ማህበራዊ ጉዳይ ቢሮ ጋር በተመባበር አዲሰ የሰራተኛ ማህበር ማቋቋሙን የሚገልፁት አቶ ካሳሁን፣ የክልሉ የሰራተኛና ማህበራዊ ጉዳይ ቢሮ ከሥልጣኑ ውጪ ሰራተኛ ማህበር በማቋቋም እንቅስቃሴ ውስጥ መሳተፉን ነቅፈዋል፡፡
የክልሉ የሰራተኛና ማህበራዊ ቢሮ አዲስ ማህበር በመፍጠር ተግባር ውስጥ መሳተፉ ህገ ወጥ መሆኑን በመጥቀስ ለሰራተኛና ማህበራዊ ጉዳይ ሚኒስቴር በደብዳቤ ማስታወቃቸውን አቶ ካሳሁን ገልፀዋል፡፡ ኘሬዚዳንቱ ለሚኒስትሩ በፃፉት ደብዳቤ የክልሉ የሰራተኛና ማህበራዊ ጉዳይ ቢሮና የፋብሪካው አስተዳደር፤ በነፃነት የመደራጀት ህገ መንግሥታዊ መብትን፣ የዓለም አቀፉን የሰራተኞች መብት ኮንቬንሽንን፣ የአሰሪና ሰራተኛ ህግን መጣሳቸውን አሳውቀዋል፡፡
“ሁለት ማህበር በአንድ ድርጅት ውስጥ እንዲፈጠር አንፈልግም” በማለት ጠቅላይ ሚኒስትር መለስ በቅርቡ የሰራተኛ ማህበራት ተወካዮችን ባነጋገሩበት ወቅት መግለፃቸውን በማስታወስ፤ “በዳሸን ፋብሪካ ግን በማህበር ላይ ማህበር እየተፈጠረ ነው” በማለት አቶ ካሳሁን አማርረዋል፡፡
በሚኒስቴር ደረጃ ካልተፈታ ወደሚመለከተው አካል እንደሚያመሩ አቶ ካሳሁን አስታውቀዋል፡፡
የኢትዮጵያ የምግብ፣ የመጠጥ የትምባሆና የመሳሰሉት ሰራተኞች ማህበራት ፌዴሬሽን ኘሬዚዳንት አቶ ገብረሚካኤል ገብረሊባኖስ በበኩላቸው የዳሸን ቢራ ፋብሪካ አስተዳደር ከስድስት ጊዜ በላይ የሰራተኛ ማህበር ማፍረሱን ገልፀዋል፡፡ ከዚህም አንፃር የፋብሪካውን ችግር ለመፍታት ከፌዴሬሽንና ከኮንፌዴሬሽን የተውጣጣ ኮሚቴ የፋብሪካውን አስተዳደር በግንባር ማነጋገሩን ነገር ግን ችግሮች አለመቀረፋቸውን አስታውቀዋል፡፡
የፋብሪካው አስተዳደር የሰራተኛ ማህበር አፍርሶ አዲስ ማቋቋሙን በመቃወም አስተዳደሩ በውይይት መፍትሔ እንዲፈልግ አቶ ገብረሚካኤል ጠቁመዋል፡፡ የክልሉ የሰራተኛና ማህበራዊ ጉዳይ፤ ማህበር በማቋቋም ተግባር መሳተፉንም አውግዘዋል፡፡
አቶ ገብረሚካኤል የፋብሪካውን ችግር በተመለከተ ለፋብሪካው ቦርድ ሰብሳቢ ለአቶ በረከት ስምኦን በደብዳቤ ማሳወቃቸውንም ገልፀዋል፡፡
በጉዳዩ ዙሪያ የፋብሪካውን ዋና ሥራ አስኪያጅ አቶ ብርሃኑ አድማሱን ለማነጋገር ጥረት ብናደርግም፤ አልተሳካም፡፡ ዋና ስራ አስኪያጁ “በጉዳዩ ዙሪያ ለሪፖርተር ጋዜጣ አስተያየት ለመስጠት ፈቃደኛ አይደለሁም” በማለት ምላሽ ሰጥተዋል፡፡
August 28th, 2008 at 5:36 am
“ውሻህ እስኪከዳህ ድረስ አብላው:: ሲከዳህ ግን ግደለው” ይላሉ ህንዶች ::ዛሬም ልክ ህጎስ አርያ ከላይ ጥሩ አድርጎት እንደገለጸው የሻቢያ ቅጥረኞች እነበረከት/መለስ ልክ ሊያገቡት ነው:: ጉዳዩ የዳሽኑዋ ብቻ አትመስለኝም የባድሜንም ጉዳይ ለመገላገል የትግራይ የመለስ አገልጋዮች ግን ባድሜ ባድሜ የሚሉትን መመንጠር ጀምሮ ይሆናል:: ሻብያ የላከልን መሪዎች እነመለስና/በረከት የመሳሰሉት ልክ እነእሰዬን እንዳገቡላችው አሁንም እነአማረም እየገባላቸው ይሆናል::
August 28th, 2008 at 7:58 am
Early on in the mid-90s, Meles Zenawi realized that the market shouldn’t be left to private publications that proved a bone in the throat of the ruling regime. He ordered cadres to launch publications that would circulate disguised as “independent” newspapers that would first counter-balance, then neutralize, and finally dominate the market in favor of his ruling party.
Take the case of the rubber-stamp parliament.
Meles allows a few, powerless opposition MPs to take seats in a sea of ruling party cadres. Without them, he would be bedevilled as a one-party dictator. The few loyal opposition MPs render him valuable services. When Ethiopian dissidents appeal to Western democracies, they point to the impotent opposition MPs to say there is a fledgling democracy despite some flaws.
By the same token, Meles has ‘independent’ publications that run side by side with state-owned media. When other independent publications disappear from the markets, these ‘independent’ publications remain immune to repressive government measures, or to skyrocketing print costs, or backbreaking court fines. Their owners and editors even suffer occasional court appearances, or imprisonments, like the recent case which landed The Reporter’s Amare Aregawi in a Gondar jail. Before his release on bail on Wednesday, Amare declined his release on bail, saying his arrest in Gondar was an illegal act in the first place. No other journalist would have the luxury to go this far. His act speaks like there is law and order in the country. In backward Ethiopia, the political drama that sustains the life of a rogue regime is much more sophisticated that it is often beyond the comprehension of foreign journalists and diplomats living in Addis Ababa.
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When police detained Amare Aregawia, owner of The Reporter, and took him to Gondar for court appearance a few days ago, only the politically innocent (naïve) may have believed the arrest is for real.
Is Amare an independent journalist committed to serving the society as the messenger of news and information, or a masked propagandist who goes on assaulting the society that calls for the removal of the ruthless tyrant, Meles Zenawi, as witnessed in May 2005?
Well, we need to go back into the mid-90s.
After entering Addis Ababa as a TPLF rebel, Amare’s first job was managing the Ethiopian Television (ETV).
Talented and well-read, Amare introduced various programs that breathed life into the stale, socialist’-era television that has been for years dead as a pure propaganda outlet for the Derg military dictatorship.
As manager of ETV, and later ENA, Amare became prominent so much full-fledged ambassadors in Addis thought he was perhaps as powerful as the prime minister himself.
Actually, he was not. Amare’s boss was a low-level TPLF cadre who was not known outside of the Information Ministry. The diminutive cadre was the boss of all managers in the ministry, and he was dreaded like a plague.
When the cadre opens his mouth and stares his eyes, every manager, including Mr. Amare, would display the innocent face of a child, conveying the message, “OK, boss; whatever you say is right.” There is no doubt the cadre got the job for marathon talking - the ability to talk for several hours of the day and well into the night, no matter whether the talk has any substance.
The early into the mid-’90s was when private publications mushroomed overnight, and their influence, particularly among the West, was on the rise. The TPLF regime, which survives not on any public support but on hatching intricacies and deceptions, didn’t want all independent publications to be critical of the regime. They wanted to throw some of their own ‘private newspapers’ into the market.
It was in this situation that Amare was fired from his position as general manager of the Ethiopian News Agency (ENA) in 1995. He was friendly to most people, and his dismissal came as a shock. Many journalists resented that the TPLF regime fired Amare because he was a reformist as opposed to the stone-age cadres of the TPLF.
He said he was forced to resign because he couldn’t cope with the circumstances around the Information Ministry, and made a resignation speech to media workers.
“They’ve thrown me out into the streets penniless,” Amare said to a sympathetic crowd of media workers. “I hail from a poor family, and I will cope whatever fate falls on me.” A few months later, Amare hired a few reporters, office workers, and launched his own newspaper that he called “The Reporter” from a re-modelled residence from the center of the city next door to United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA).
All of a sudden, the ‘penniless’ Amare found himself in the thick of a promising business in the newspaper industry.
The Reporter grew in popularity because, among other reasons, it had the privilege of publishing stories that only high-placed government officials would deliver. At a time when Meles Zenawi was bedeviling the independent press as “gutter press,” Amare had the privilege of getting exclusive and confidential stories from the late Kinfe G. Medhin.
How is it possible for an individual who was ‘thrown out into the streets’ by the ruling party to get access to a highly confidential information from one of the few powerful men of the ruling party? Kinfe was assassinated in 2001 in Addis because, for the first time, he disavowed his loyalty to Meles Zenawi, and claimed neutrality when Meles was confronted by a group of TPLF officials who accused the prime minister of aborting Ethiopian Defense Forces’ imminent march into the capital of Eritrea, Asmara.
As an independent publication would love to do, The Reporter never asked for investigation into the political murder of its news source, Mr. Kinfe, nor launched its own investigation. The Reporter simply echoed the propaganda of the Zenawi regime that Kinfe was killed by an army major with whom he had a heated argument.
Because of the kind of privileged information it was getting from high-ranking party and government officials, and because of Amare’s gifted managerial skills, the Reporter earned a name as a respected independent newspaper so much even Transparency International (TI), the Berlin-based group that monitors corruption in each country, picked Amare up as country representative of Ethiopia.
TI usually considers independent journalists known for doing investigative journalism as ideal candidates to represent it. As in democratic societies, independent journalists are of course watchful of government activities. Journalists are at odds with government officials, especially in societies where graft is widespread. So, basically, it was a blessing in disguise for the Zenawi regime that Amare Aregawi was playing an important role by becoming a TI rep in the country.
The Reporter and Election 2005
The Reporter arrived at the 2005 polls by appearing as a respected ‘independent’ publication. Though other papers have been exposing the dictatorship, The Reporter has been playing the role of counter-balancing the effects of all other private publications had on the ruling party.
But when Meles Zenawi lost the elections, he immediately declared a state of emergency, thus putting all forces in the country und