Ethiopia: Rearrested journalists, bloggers and politicians released

By Engidu Woldie
ESAT News (April 5, 2018)

Journalists, bloggers and politicians were released today eleven days after they were rounded up and detained as they were holding a private get together in Addis Ababa.

Some of the detainees were rearrested on March 25th, few weeks after they were released following years of imprisonment.

They include award winning journalists Eskinder Nega, Temesgen Desalegn, four members of the bloggers collective known as Zone 9 and opposition politician Andualem Arage to name but few.

Ethiopia is under a state of emergency reimposed in February for the second time in two years. Several sources say about a thousand people were jailed since the reimposition of the state of emergency.

Several people were also killed under this second martial law. Security forces shot and killed at least 13 people and injured 69 people in the southern town of Moyalle in March leading to the displacement and migration to Kenya of about 40,000 residents of the town.