Terara Network Editor-in-Chief Tamrat Negera
was taken from his home by the police this morning, the YouTube based media
network said in a statement.
“Journalist Tamrat was told he was wanted for
questioning and was taken from his residence around 10: 30 AM this morning,”
his wife Selam Belay told Addis Standard. “He was told that he was needed for
questioning and then taken to the police station,” Selam said.
The police have searched his residence and his
office and confiscated all media equipment that they said were needed for
information. Among the equipment the police confiscated included laptops,
computers, audio recorders, flash memory, and other media tools, the statement
further said.
Journalist Tamrat was taken to the Addis Abeba
Police Commission’s Sostegna Police Station. The police have provided no
explanation so far as to why Tamerat has been arrested, according to his wife.
Addis Standard reached out to the spokesperson
of the Federal police Commander Jeylan Abdi to ask the reason for Tamrat’s
arrest. He declined to comment and referred the question to the Addis Abeba
police commission. Addis Standard’s several attempts to speak to the
spokesperson of the commission Commander Fasika Fanta were to no avail.
The number of journalists jailed around theworld set another record in 2021. Invoking new tech and security laws,
repressive regimes from Asia to Europe to Africa cracked down harshly on the
independent press.
In its 2021 report on the global status of
press freedom, the Committee to Protect Journalists ranked Ethiopia among the
worst jailers of journalists in Sub-Saharan Africa after Eritrea. The report
that was released today revealed that in Ethiopia in 2021, one journalist was
killed and nine remain in prison.
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