Hundreds of #Ethiopian journalists, including those who work abroad, have urged the government to protect media freedoms in the wake of accusations that journalists are being persecuted in the nation.
According to a statement, they condemned “all persecution of fellow journalists and media personnel in #Ethiopia, targeted simply for doing their jobs.”
Rights groups have long accused the continent’s second-most populated country of suppressing dissent.
Prime Minister #Abiy Ahmed’s ascension to power in 2018 gave the people new optimism as he implemented a slew of reforms.
However, when a civil war broke out in the country’s north in November 2020, ties between the press and the government deteriorated.
Journalists are “intimidated, languishing behind bars, living in fear of arrest, and contemplating either quitting their jobs or fleeing the country,” according to the statement.
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) named Ethiopia, along with Egypt and Eritrea, as one of the top jailers of journalists in Africa in its annual report in 2021.
Officials routinely deny that journalists are being targeted for performing their jobs.
Berberanews.net
