Two more journalists have been seized in Ethiopia’s capital, Addis Abeba, bringing the total number of journalists and media professionals imprisoned since last week to 13.
Some have seen the action as a crackdown on critical voices. The arrests have coincided with the commencement of a “law enforcement operation” in the Amhara area, where hundreds have been detained.
The Committee to Protect Journalists, a US-based lobbying organization, named Ethiopia one of the worst jailers of journalists last year. In the last week, a fresh wave of arrests has resulted in the detention of more than a dozen journalists and media professionals.
However, journalists are not the only ones who are being attacked. Authorities in Amhara, Ethiopia’s second most populated province, said on Monday that they had imprisoned over 4,500 people.
Activists, soldiers, and militiamen, and intellectuals were among them. Since then, the arrests have continued. Amhara’s spokeswoman said that he does not have the most recent data, but the security office informed local media that almost 2,000 people had also been held.
It comes amid fears that the ongoing operation may exacerbate tensions – and potentially bloodshed – in a nation already plagued by civil war and ethnic disputes.
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