By ANDREW MELDRUM, Associated PressJOHANNESBURG (AP) — Media rights groups are protesting the Ethiopian government's arrest of journalists, saying it indicates the erosion of press freedom in the country. Kumerra Gemechu, a video journalist for the Reuters news agency, was arrested on Dec. 24 at his home in Ethiopia's capital, Addis Ababa, and is being detained for 14 days for police investigations, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists. Kumerra’s arrest follows the beating of Reuters photographer Tiksa Negari by two Ethiopian federal police officers on December 16, the statement said. With Kumerra's arrest, eight journalists have been jailed in Ethiopia this year. In 2020, the Committee to Protect Journalists “documented a worrying pattern of holding journalists for weeks without formal charges in Ethiopia.

Source: Ethiopian News December 28, 2020 14:20 UTC