By ethiocnn

 

Following the recent crackdown by the Ethiopian government on journalists and bloggers, the managing Editor and founder of the defunct magazine Tesema Desalegn has fled the country.

 

Sources indicate that the journalist has left the country as the result of the deteriorating press freedom in the country and fearing the possible measure the government could take against journalists and members of the newly established journalist association, Ethiopian Journalists Forum (EJF). Particularly, the propaganda in state owned and government affiliated media, which was indicating that the authorities were working to arrest additional journalists and bloggers and leadership of the association is said to have been the immediate cause for his flee.

 

Only in the recent crackdown, 3 journalists and 6 bloggers have been jailed. And another journalist was detained for 4 days and was released. In addition to Tesema, Betre Yacob, a Journalist and blogger as well as president of EJF has recently fled the country fearing for his life. The house of Betre Yacob was reportedly searched by police on April 30 and his documents were taken, and at that time he was in Angola to attend a meeting organized by African Union on human right situation of the continent.  

 

According to reports, Betre Yacob had been mentioned as a terrorist at different state owned and government affiliated medias in the past. He used to be accused of working for outlawed organizations and international human right institutions such as Article 19, CPJ, human Right Watch, and others. Many claim that Betre used to experience several grave problems particularly following his substantial role in the establishment of EJF and after he became the president of the association. Reports indicate that he is believed by the government to be the master mind of the association.

 

Tesema Desalegn is the founder and member of Ethiopian journalists Forum. The association has been reportedly under government attack since its inception. It has been accused of working to illicit violence in the country. Its name has been mention with Article 19, CPJ, and other organizations, which are not popular in Addis Ababa. According to reports. the association is denied a license by the government, and Betre was struggling to get it.

 

Beside Tesema and Betre, other known journalists have been fled the country only in the past 6 months, and it has increased the number of those who fled the country since 2005.

 

According to reports, currently nobody knows about the situation of Tesema and Betre, and many are expressing their concerns over the safety of the journalists.

 

Ethiopia has remained the second top jailer of journalists in Africa, next to Eritrea, according to CPJ report.  Reports indicate that about 50 journalists have fled the country only since 2008 as the result of the worst press freedom situation of  the country.

 

http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-1140475 

http://www.petersworldnews.com/detail.php?fid=182510