Police spokesman said the crime in this case carries up to 15 years in jail according to the Ethiopian law
Police in conflict-hit Ethiopia have arrested a freelance video journalist working for The Associated Press (AP), the United States news agency and state media said.
On Wednesday, AP called for the immediate release of Amir Aman Kiyaro, who it said was arrested in the capital, Addis Ababa, on November 28 after returning from a
reporting trip.Two other local journalists, identified by state media as Thomas Engida and Addisu Mulneh, were also arrested.
Journalists working in Ethiopia face restrictions under a nationwide state of emergency declared last month by the government, which has been locked in a brutal 13-month conflict with fighters from the country’s northern Tigray region.
The declaration, valid for six months, allows suspects to be detained without trial for as long as the state of emergency lasts and allows house-to-house searches without a warrant.
The emergency rules banned the sharing of non-official information about military movements and battlefield outcomes, with residents also barred from “using various types of media platforms to support directly or indirectly the terrorist group” – a reference to the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), which is fighting government forces.
Ethiopian police inspector Tesfaye Olani accused the three journalists of breaching the state of emergency laws by seeking to disseminate “propaganda” about the TPLF and its ally, the Oromo Liberation Army. He said their actions could be punishable by prison terms of seven to 15 years.
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