Ethiopian journalist likely held under anti-terrorism law

| June 25, 2011

Reeyot Alemu

New York —
Ethiopian authorities have been holding a newspaper columnist incommunicado
since Tuesday, local journalists told the Committee to Protect Journalists. Reeyot Alemu, a regular
contributor to the independent weekly Feteh,
was expected to spend the next four weeks in preventive detention under what
appears to be Ethiopia’s sweeping anti-terrorism
law.

Alemu, at right, is the second journalist
picked up and held without charge in less than a week and taken into custody at
the federal investigation center at Maekelawi Prison
in the capital, Addis Ababa. Deputy Editor Woubshet Taye of the weekly Awramba Times has been held since Sunday,
according to CPJ research.

Authorities
have not disclosed the reason for Alemu’s arrest, but
a local lawyer who requested anonymity for fear of government reprisals told
CPJ that she has been transferred into preventive detention for a period of 28
days, pending further investigations. This is the minimum period for preventive
detention under Ethiopia’s 2009 anti-terrorism law, according to legal experts.
Ethiopia’s code of criminal procedure allows for preventative detention for a
minimum of 14 days, they said.

Ethiopian
government spokesman Bereket Simon told CPJ on Friday
that he was not immediately available to comment. Local journalists said they
believe Alemu’s arrest could be related to her
columns critical of the ruling EPRDF. Alemu’s June 17
column in Feteh criticized the EPRDF’s
public fundraising methods for the Abay Dam project, and made parallels between Prime
Minister Meles Zenawi and
Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi, according to local journalists.

“We
condemn the ongoing detention of Reeyot Alemu without charge,” said CPJ Africa Advocacy
Coordinator Mohamed Keita. “Since Alemu is
frequently critical of the government, we are concerned about the possible use
of far-reaching and vaguely worded provisions of Ethiopia’s anti-terrorism law
to prosecute her. We call on authorities in Addis Ababa to release Alemu immediately.”

The
sweeping anti-terrorism
law criminalizes any reporting authorities deem to “encourage” or
“provide moral support” to groups and causes the government labels as
“terrorists.”

Alemu was picked up at a high school in
Addis Ababa where she teaches English, according to local journalists. Police
then searched her house, according to the same sources.

Ethiopia
has six journalists currently behind bars, behind only Eritrea as the nation
detaining the largest number of journalists in Africa. Eritrea holds at least 17 members of the press
in its secret prisons, according to CPJ research.