September 19, 2024
borkena
Toronto – Author, journalist and scriptwriter Azeb Worku is reportedly arrested in the capital Addis Ababa. Anchor media on Thursday said that it got information from family members that she is detained at the third police station.
Citizen reports are also emerging on social media confirming her arrest.
On September 14, she shared a post on her facebook page criticizing the inhuman demolition of houses and dislocation of residents – many of whom reduced to homelessness – under the cover of “corridor development.”
In her latest post, she indicated that residents were given only 20 days notice to vacate their homes. The elderly including those who are in their death beds and children who started school in the new academic year were ignored.
Many of them are reported to have lived in their homes for three and four generations.
“Azeb’s plea for a more humane approach, advocating for a more reasonable notice period before displacement, was met with a troubling response. Rather than addressing her concerns, the authorities chose to detain her, revealing a disturbing trend in Ethiopia where even the most genuine and compassionate appeals are met with harsh repression,” wrote Ethio Chronicles.
It added t: “This incident brings to light the extreme intolerance for dissent from Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and the Oromo Prosperity Party. Their ruthless suppression of any criticism reveals a disturbing degradation of freedom of speech in Ethiopia.”
At the time of this writing, Addis Ababa police did not release a statement regarding her arrest
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