Ethiopia pursues charges against three detained journalists

The Associated Press freelancer Amir Aman Kiyaro, freelance camera operator Thomas Engida, and the publisher of the online news outlet Terara Network, Temerat Negara, were among a group of journalists arrested in the weeks after November 2, 2021, when Ethiopian authorities declared a state of emergency amid a civil war, allowing them to arrest thousands of people.

After the state of emergency ended on February 15, 2022, it was expected that all civilians arrested under state of emergency provisions would be released within a legally stipulated 48-hour period, according to family members of journalists who spoke to CPJ.

Nevertheless, police reported on February 17 that they now were investigating Temerat, and that the two journalists would be charged under Ethiopia's anti-terrorism law.

According to a report by Terara Network and a statement from the Ethiopia Human Rights Commission (ERHC), a statutory watchdog body, police argued that they needed more time to investigate Temerat, who has been detained since December 10, 2021.

A Terara Network report states that the new investigation comes after police said they no longer needed to investigate the journalist in a court hearing on December 30, 2021. In Gelan, a town in Oromia's regional state, Temerat has been detained at a police station, according to reports and Terara Network.

Both Amir and Thomas had been arrested by the Addis Ababa Commission on November 28, 2021, and have been held without formal charges at the Addis Ababa Commission, a station known as Sostegna, according to Sisay and a source familiar with the case. According to those same sources, the journalists are due in court on February 21, 2022, under the country's anti-terrorism law.

CPJ documented at the time that Ethiopian authorities accused Thomas and Amir, along with Addisu Muluneh, a reporter for the government-affiliated Fana Broadcasting Corporation, of violating Ethiopia's antiterrorism and state of emergency laws by interviewing the Oromo Liberation Army, an armed insurgency group that was declared a terrorist organization last year. According to a post on his Facebook account, Addisu was released in January. 

*This article contains information sourced from CPJ.