Ethiopians Holding Hunger Strike to Attract Attention to Attack on Press Freedom

Ethiopian government has escalated its attack on the weak press

19 August 2012 [ESAT]

A group of Ethiopians are organizing a hunger strike at gates of the Whitehouse to call up on President Obama’s attention to the worsening attack on journalists in Ethiopia. The strike is slated to kick off on Friday August 17 midnight and will run through the weekend till August 19th.

The strike is organized by a free speech advocacy group call Free Media for Ethiopia. The publicist of the group, Miss Tirsit Getachew, said the state of press freedom in Ethiopia is abysmal and lately the extent and frequency of the attack on journalists have increased sharply. She hopes incessant public advocacy works like the upcoming hunger strike will bring the necessary attention to the plight of Ethiopian journalists.

The hunger strikers will call up on the Obama administration to see to the worsening press environment and exert its influence on Ethiopian government.  Ethiopians residing in the Washington DC metro area are kindly requested to show solidarity to the Ethiopians who will be participating in the hunger strike at Lafayette Square, in front of the Whitehouse.