Ten media workers arrested in Ethiopia stand accused of fomenting ethnic and religious conflict as well as animosity against the government, police said Wednesday, as authorities wage a broader crackdown that has seen thousands detained. At least 12 journalists and media workers have been arrested in the capital Addis Ababa or in the northwestern Amhara region since May 19, according to their colleagues, employers, and international press freedom NGOs. Gizachew Muluneh, a spokesman for the Amhara regional government, cited by the Ethiopia News Agency, said the 10 arrested were “suspected of trying to destroy the Amhara region and Ethiopia. The arrests are part of a broader crackdown in Amhara — the country’s second most-populous region — by the federal government of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and regional authorities, who have said 4,000 people have been arrested. But dissident voices have emerged in Amhara in the wake of a March truce between federal authorities and the Tigrayan rebels, who retook much of the region in 2021.

Source: Ethiopian News June 02, 2022 04:18 UTC