April 10, 2025
By: Getahun Tsegaye
Staff Reporter
April 10, 2025
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia — The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has called on Ethiopian authorities to drop terrorism-related investigations against at least seven journalists from the privately owned Ethiopian Broadcasting Service (EBS). The journalists were detained in late March over a controversial episode of the program Addis Meiraf, CPJ said in a statement issued Wednesday, April 9.
The journalists were arrested following a March 23 broadcast in which a woman, Birtukan Temesgen, claimed she was abducted and raped by men in military uniform while she was a student in 2020. The episode has since been removed from EBS platforms.
According to CPJ, Birtukan later recanted her statement during a March 27 appearance on state-run Ethiopian Broadcasting Corporation (EBC). EBS founder Amman Fissehazion publicly apologized on March 28, stating that the station determined the allegations were fabricated only after the broadcast aired.
Despite this, the Ethiopian Media Authority suspended Addis Meiraf on April 1 pending “corrective actions.” Birtukan and the journalists were remanded in custody for 14 days as police continue investigations.
“Arresting journalists on terrorism allegations is a disproportionate response to concerns over lapses in journalistic ethics, particularly as EBS has already faced regulatory sanction,” said Muthoki Mumo, CPJ’s Africa Program Coordinator.
According to court documents reviewed by CPJ, police allege that the journalists conspired with “extremist” groups in Ethiopia’s Amhara region to incite conflict, destabilize the constitutional order, and attempt to overthrow the government.
Journalists Nebiyu Tiumelissan, Tariku Haile, Hilina Tarekegn, and Niter Dereje were arrested on March 26 during a raid on EBS headquarters that temporarily forced the station off the air. Girma Tefera, Henok Abate, and Habtamu Alemayehu were detained on March 27 and 28.
Though Birtukan did not identify her university in the broadcast, observers speculated she may have been referring to Dambi Dollo University in western Oromia—where ethnic Amhara students were abducted in 2019. The university has denied that Birtukan was ever enrolled.
The journalists’ lawyers argue that the issue involves potential editorial misconduct, not criminal activity. They say such cases should be addressed under Ethiopia’s media law and hate speech regulations, rather than the country’s anti-terrorism legislation.
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