Rédaction Africa Links 24 with Africanews
Published on 2024-02-26 15:07:00
A French journalist, Antoine Galindo, has been detained in Ethiopia while attending an African Union summit in the capital Addis Ababa. Galindo, a correspondent for the Africa Intelligence website based in Paris, arrived in Ethiopia with a visa authorizing him to work as a journalist to report on the annual summit.
On Thursday, plainclothes security officers detained Galindo, and a judge later ordered his detention to be extended until March 1. He has been accused of “conspiracy to create chaos in Ethiopia,” a charge that his employer, Indigo Publications, denounced as unjustified and a violation of press freedom.
Galindo was conducting an interview with Bate Urgressa, the spokesperson for the Oromo Liberation Front opposition party, at the Ethiopian Skylight Hotel when he was arrested. Bate was also taken into custody, and both journalists were denied bail as the police sought access to Galindo’s phone records and the apprehension of other suspects.
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) raised concerns about Galindo’s arrest, noting that Ethiopia ranks as the second-biggest jailer of journalists in sub-Saharan Africa. The CPJ called for Galindo’s immediate release, highlighting the oppressive environment for the press in Ethiopia under Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s administration.
Despite initial promises of political openness when he took office in 2018, Prime Minister Abiy’s tenure has been marked by civil rights violations. The war in the Tigray region from 2020 to 2022 led to the expulsion of foreign journalists and diplomats, as well as the detention of thousands of ethnic Tigrayans. A new rebellion in the Amhara region resulted in a state of emergency being declared amid allegations of extrajudicial killings by soldiers.
Currently, at least eight Ethiopian journalists are in prison, according to the CPJ. The organization continues to advocate for press freedom in Ethiopia and calls for the release of all detained journalists.
The case of Antoine Galindo shines a spotlight on the challenges faced by journalists in Ethiopia and the broader issues of press freedom in the country. As the world watches, the fate of Galindo and others detained for their work as journalists remains uncertain, highlighting the importance of protecting freedom of the press in all corners of the globe.
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