Africa-Press – Ethiopia. May 17, 2025 4 minutes read Addis Abeba– The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said at least seven journalists were arrested in Ethiopia in April, as the government passed an amendment to the media law that, according to the group, “increases government control” over the media regulator and reverses gains made by the 2021 media law.
In a statement issued on 16 May, CPJ said among those detained is Ahmed Awga, who “has been in prison for over three weeks” after interviewing a man who alleged that his 16-year-old son, Shafi’i Abdikarim Ali, died following a police beating. In the interview, the father, Abdikarim Ali Ahmed, “demanded justice for his son’s death,” and said “an officer kicked the teenage boy’s head, while wearing boots,” after which the boy was hospitalized and “died from his injuries,” according to CPJ.
CPJ cited a BBC Somali report in which Somali Regional Police Commander Abdi Ali Siyad was quoted as saying, “The boy simply died. There is no one to be held accountable.”
According to CPJ, Ahmed, founder of Jigjiga Television Network, was arrested on April 23 in Somali Region and appeared in court on April 25 on “incitement charges.” He was remanded in custody pending investigation. CPJ said it spoke to a relative of Ahmed who requested anonymity, citing fear of retribution.
The organization stated that Ahmed’s arrest came days after Ethiopia’s parliament passed an amendment to the 2021 media law on April 17. The amendment, according to CPJ, “increases government control over the regulatory Ethiopian Media Authority (EMA),” which has the mandate to sanction media outlets, including revoking their licenses.
CPJ noted that press and human rights groups have “warned that this shift in power opens the door to undue influence from politicians.”
The amendment repeals provisions that had allowed the public to nominate candidates to the EMA board and eliminates four board seats previously reserved for media and civil society representatives. Instead, board members will now be selected from “relevant” bodies. The amendment also “removed a ban on board members being members of a political party” — a rule CPJ said “the government had been criticized for breaking” — and transferred the power to nominate the authority’s director general from the board to the Prime Minister.
In addition to Ahmed’s detention, CPJ said it confirmed the arrests of six other journalists in April. On April 5, Muhyidin Abdullahi Omar, an editor at the state-owned Harari Mass Media Agency and founder of the YouTube channel Biyyoo Production, was arrested in Harari Region. CPJ said his wife, Helen Jemal, and another individual familiar with the case, who declined to be named citing fear of reprisal, confirmed the arrest.
According to CPJ, Omar was charged on April 28 with defamation and disseminating disinformation in relation to two Facebook posts, which alleged “mismanagement at a local mosque and corruption at the regional attorney general’s office,” citing the charge sheet it reviewed. He reportedly faces up to three years in prison under the 2016 defamation law and an additional three years under the anti-hate speech law, which CPJ said “broadly defines the crime.”
CPJ noted that Omar had been on administrative leave from his employer since 2022 following a previous arrest linked to social media activity. Two days after his latest arrest, on April 7, his salary was suspended pending a disciplinary meeting, CPJ said, citing Helen and related documents.
On April 10, CPJ said Fanuel Kinfu, founder of the online outlet Fentale Media, was arrested in Addis Abeba. The journalist told CPJ that police questioned him regarding commentary videos published between April 2023 and June 2024. He was released on April 13 on bail of 15,000 birr (approximately US$113), according to the group.
On April 23, Abebe Fikir, a journalist with the weekly newspaper The Reporter, was arrested. CPJ said Abebe told the organization he was seeking comment from city officials on a housing dispute when police accused him of “filming without permission,” a claim he denied. He was released on April 25 on bail of 10,000 birr (approximately US$75) without charge, according to CPJ.
CPJ also confirmed that three employees of Addis Standard were briefly detained in April during a raid on the newsroom and released later the same day.
CPJ previously described the raid on Addis Standard as an “escalating threat to press freedom” and called on Ethiopian authorities to “drop their investigations into Addis Standard and return its equipment.”
Addis Standard also condemned the raid in an editorial published on April 30, calling it “A Dangerous Precedent,” and describing it as a “chilling affront to data privacy” in Ethiopia.
Marking World Press Freedom Day, 14 diplomatic missions in Ethiopia — including those of the United Kingdom, France, and other European countries — have previously expressed concern over what they described as the “significant pressure” on freedom of expression, and called for journalists to be “protected” and press freedom “respected.” In a joint statement issued on May 3, the missions said they “reiterate our support for the independence and safety of journalists around the world.” The statement also emphasized that an open civic and political space is “key to building free and prosperous societies.”
The statement coincided with the release of Reporters Without Borders’ (RSF) 2025 World Press Freedom Index, which ranked Ethiopia 145th out of 180 countries — placing it in the “very serious” category for the first time. RSF attributed the drop to “growing political interference,” limited editorial independence, and fragile media economics.
CPJ, in its 2024 prison census, listed Ethiopia among the worst jailers of journalists in Africa, with six journalists detained — five of whom are facing “terrorism” charges that could carry death sentences.
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