BBC considering services to Eritrea, Ethiopia

The BBC is proposing to introduce a news service for Eritrea and Ethiopia on medium- and short-wave radio.

In addition to Africa, the BBC has proposed expanding services in other countries, like Russia and North Korea.
This is to enhance its coverage of "parts of the world where there is a democratic deficit in impartial news".
BBC Head Tony Hall also suggested increasing digital services to Nigeria, one of the broadcaster's biggest markets in Africa.
The suggestions would need to be approved by the government before the services are launched.
They are part of a green paper set out by the BBC as part of its discussions with the government about its future.
The proposals say there is the ambition to be commercially self-sufficient and that the aim would be for any public funding to be matched by external income.
These could include advertising, subscription, syndication deals and funding from other governments.
The government launched a consultation in July on the BBC's Royal Charter, which sets out the purpose of the BBC and how it will be governed, promising to ask "hard questions" about the corporation's size and ambition.

U.S. State Department Highlights 3 Women Political Prisoners from Ethiopia

New York (TADIAS) — U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, Samantha Power, launched a one-month campaign last week called #FreeThe20 that will highlight 20 women from around the world who are political prisoners, including three female members of Ethiopia’s Semayawi (Blue) Party: Blen Mesfin, Meron Alemayehu, and Nigist Wondifraw. According to the campaign, which will last through September 2015, the Ethiopian trio will be the focus of attention on day 4-6 this week.
According to the campaign, which will last through September 2015, the Ethiopian trio will be the focus of attention on day 4-6 this week. “Blen Mesfin, Meron Alemayehu, and Nigist Wondifraw, Ethiopia were among a number of opposition party members and others arrested and charged with inciting violence during anti-Islamic State in Libya (ISIL) demonstrations in Addis Ababa in April 2015, which were organized by the government of Ethiopia following the killing of 26 Ethiopians by ISIL,” states the campaign’s website humanrights.gov. During a Q&A session with the press following her announcement of the campaign last Tuesday, a reporter asked Ambassador Power regarding the women from Ethiopia: “You’ve got three from Ethiopia on here,” the journalist said. “I’m curious – the President, our President, was just in Ethiopia, where he made some comments praising its democracy. I’m just wondering if you see a discord there?” In her response Ambassador Power said: “As President Obama said on his trip to Ethiopia, the full potential of Ethiopia will not be unleashed and unlocked until journalists are able to report on what’s going in the country freely and opposition – credible opposition candidates are able to participate in elections.” Humanrights.gov adds: “Blen, Meron, and Nigist are leading members of Ethiopia’s Blue Party, which advocates peacefully for democratic principles and has faced numerous obstacles in exercising freedom of association and assembly both in the build-up to May 24 parliamentary elections, and thereafter. All three were arrested in Addis Ababa in the days following the April 22 protests and charged with inciting violence at the rally. They remain behind bars to this day.”
--
The story was originally published on Tadias.

VOA Reporter Detained in Ethiopia

VOA: A Voice of America reporter has been detained in the Ethiopian capital while trying to cover a demonstration Friday.

Witnesses to the arrest told VOA that reporter Peter Heinlein and his translator Simeginesh Mekoya were detained while seeking to interview protesters during a Muslim demonstration following Friday prayers in Addis Ababa.

Another Western reporter said there was a heavy police presence at the demonstration and that he also was stopped by police and told to leave the area.

Tom Rhodes, East Africa spokesman for the Committee to Protect Journalists, said he understood that Heinlein was accused of acting “unprofessionally and illegally.” Rhodes said a government spokesman accused Heinlein, who is married to a Danish diplomat, of improperly using a diplomatic vehicle and refusing to show media accreditation.

Rhodes added that the accusations seemed at odds with Heinlein's reputation as a highly professional journalist who has worked for VOA since 1988.

“However, I would add that Peter Heinlein is a veteran reporter, an experienced and professional broadcaster, so personally I find it rather hard to believe that someone like Heinlein would be reporting unprofessionally.”

In a formal statement from its headquarters in Washington, VOA said, “The safety and welfare of our reporters is our utmost concern and we are working to gather more information about Mr. Heinlein's status.”

The statement said VOA is in touch with the U.S. Department of State seeking more information and “We urge Ethiopian authorities to allow Mr. Heinlein to carry out his journalistic responsibilities without interference.”

Heinlein reported last week on rising tensions between the government and Ethiopia's Muslim minority, which has held a series of demonstrations to protest what the community sees as government interference in Islamic affairs.

The CPJ quoted Minister of Government Communications Bereket Simon saying officials wanted to speak to Heinlein about his “unobjective” reporting on the Muslim issue. Bereket did not say whether Heinlein has been formally arrested or charged.

በደቡብ አፍሪካ ለአቶ መለስ ዜናዊ የተያዘው መርሀ ግብር እንዲሰረዝ ተደረገ

ግንቦት ፲፮ (አስራ ስድስት) ቀን ፳፻፬ ዓ/ም

ኢሳት ዜና:-በደቡብ አፍሪካ የሚገኙ ኢትዮጵያውያን እና የኢትዮጵያ የሲቪክ ማህበር አባላት ባደረጉት ተጽእኖ ለአቶ መለስ ዜናዊ የተያዘው መርሀ ግብር እንዲሰረዝ ተደረገ

አቶ መለስ ፣ ታቦ ምቤኪ አፍሪካን ሌደርሽፕ ኢንስቲቲዩት የተባለ ተቋም  ፣ በሚያዘጋጀው  ጉባኤ ላይ የተለያዩ የአፍሪካ መሪዎች እና ምሁራን በሚገኙበት ዛሬ ሜይ 24፣ 2012 ከምሽቱ 12 ሰአት ላይ ንግግር እንደሚያደርጉ ተገልጾ ነበር።

ዝግጅቱን በተመለከተ ተቋሙ የሚከተለውን ማስታወቂያ አውጥቶ ነበር ” የኢትዮጵያው ጠቅላይ ሚኒሰትር በአመታዊው የታቦ ምቤኪ የአፍሪካ ቀን አመታዊ ትምህርት ሜይ 24 ፣ 2012 በ18 ሰአት በዜኬ ማቲውስ ታላቅ የመሰብሰቢአ አዳራሽ ፣ በደቡብ አፍሪካ ዩኒቨርስቲ ንግግር ያደርጋሉ። የአቶ መለስ ትምህርት “አፍሪካ በአዲሱ የአለም ስርአት፡ ፈተናዎችና እና እድሎች” በሚልላይ ያተኩራል። ከትምህርታቸው በሁዋላ ለእርሳቸውና ለታቦ ምቤኪ ከተሳታፊዎች ጥያቄዎች ይቀርቡላቸዋል።

ማስታወቂያው ስለ አቶ መለስ ዜናዊ የህይወት ታሪክም ያብራራል። ይሁን እንጅ በደቡብ አፍሪካ የሚገኙ ኢትዮጵያውያን ትናንት ያደረጉት ተቃውሞ፣ በተቋሙ ውስጥ በስራ አስፈጻሚነት ከሚሳተፉት መካከል ፕሮፌሰር ማሞ ሙጨ ባደረጉት ከፍተኛ ተቃውሞ፣ ተቋሙ ለአቶ መለስ ይዞት የነበረውን መረሀ ግብር ለመሰረዝ መቻሉን ለማወቅ ተችሎአል።

የድርጅቱ አስተባባሪ የሆኑት ላኪ ፎሳ ዝግጅቱ መሰረዙን ለኢሳት አረጋግጠዋል ። ምክንያቱን እንዲናገሩ የተጠየቁት ፎሳ ዝርዝር ማብራሪያ ከመስጠት ተቆጥበዋል። ይሁን እንጅ ከስራ አስፈጻሚዎች መካከል አንዱ የሆኑት ፕ/ር ማሞ ሙጨ ለአቶ መለስ ተይዞ የነበረው መርሀ ግብር የተሰረዘበት ምክንያት ኢትዮጵያውያን በአሰሙት ተቃውሞ ነው ብለዋል።

ፕ/ር ማሞ እንደሚሉት ከዚህ ቀደም በነበሩት ዝግጅቶች ላይ የአፍሪካ መሪዎች ተጋብዘው ንግግሮችን አድርገዋል። እርሳቸው የኮሚቴ አባል ሆነው አቶ መለስ ሲጋበዙ ማየት ሳይዋጥላቸው ቀርቶ እንደነበር ፕ/ር ማሞ ተናግረዋል።

አቶ መለስ በቅርቡ በቡድን 20 አገራት ስበሰባ ላይ በጋዜጠኛ አበበ ገላውና በአሜሪካ በሚኖሩ ኢትዮጵያውያን ከፍተኛ ተቃውሞ ገጥሞአቸው እንደተመለሱ ይታወቃል።

New Muslim protests planned in Ethiopia

VOA ADDIS ABABA - Unofficial committees within Ethiopia's 30-million strong Muslim community are organizing demonstrations to protest what they say is government interference in Islamic affairs. Tensions are rising as the government tries to preempt what it sees as the rise of a hardline strain of Islam.

Worshippers arriving for Friday prayers at Addis Ababa's Awalia mosque found a notice posted at the entrance, which read: "They managed to get in through the back door before. Let's make sure it doesn't happen again."

The notice was signed by a mosque committee opposed to what it says has been a quiet government takeover of Ethiopia's Islamic Affairs Supreme Council. The committee is demanding elections for new council members, to be held in the city's mosques. They rejected a suggestion that the vote be held in neighborhood government halls called kebeles.

Standing at the entrance to the mosque, Ibrahim Hassan who teaches computer science at the Awalia Mission School, says holding the election in kebele halls would open the door to mischief.

"It should be inside the mosques, not in the kebeles because if it carried out in the kebeles there will be corruption, or some of the government authorities may participate. That is not fair. It is related to religion. There must not be interference of government in such tasks," he said.

Awalia mosque has been at the center of protests against what many Muslims see as government efforts to ban the teachings of the conservative Salafist sect of Islam. The Islamic Supreme Council recently fired several teachers at the Awalia mission school and shut down an Arabic language teaching center.

Teacher Ibrahim accuses the council of trying to indoctrinate Ethiopian Muslims into the little known al-Abhash sect that preaches non-violence, as opposed to the more militant Salafist brand of Islam.

"They think that the committee may be terrorists," he said. "They consider us terrorists, but it represents all the Muslim communities. They said that [some] Salafists are members of al-Qaida, but in Ethiopia all of the Muslims are not members of al-Qaida, they are simply regular Muslims."

Prime Minister Meles Zenawi last month signaled a crackdown on those he accused of “peddling ideologies of intolerance." In a speech to parliament, he said a few Salafis had formed clandestine al-Qaida cells in the southern part of the country.

Days later, our protesters were killed and many others injured in the southern state, Oromia when they tried to prevent police from arresting a Muslim cleric accused of promoting a radical ideology.

Last week, five men, including one Kenyan national, were arraigned in Addis Ababa's federal court on charges of operating an al-Qaida cell out of a mosque in Oromia.

In another incident this month, Ethiopian authorities expelled two Arab men said to have been visiting from an unnamed Middle Eastern country. The two were detained after making what police called “inflammatory statements” and distributing materials at Addis Ababa's main Anwar mosque.

And last Friday, dozens of young men were reported to have stood outside Anwar mosque with tape over their mouths in a silent protest. Young men standing at the entrance to Awalia mosque at last Friday's prayers said another big demonstration is planned for this week.

ጋዜጠኛ አበበ ገላው ከፍ ባለ ድምፅ ያሰማውን ተቃውሞ በቪዲዮ ይመልከቱ ::Ethiopian Journalist Abebe Gellaw Confronted Meles Zenawi (Video)

BREAKING NEWS በአሜሪካ ስብሰባ ላይ የሚገኙት አቶ መለስ ዜናዊ በስብሰባ አዳራሹ ውስጥ ገና መናገር ሲጀመሩ በጋዜጠኛ አበበ ገላው ከፍ ባለ ድምፅ ተቃውሞ ገጠማቸው

በአሜሪካ ስብሰባ ላይ የሚገኙት አቶ መለስ ዜናዊ በስብሰባ አዳራሹ ውስጥ ገና መናገር ሲጀመሩ ጋዜጠኛ አበበ ገላው ከፍ ባለ ድምፅ፤  “ይህ ሰው ነብሰ ገዳይ ነው… ወንጀለኛ ነው… እዚህ ቦታ ሊገኝ አይገባውም” ሲል በተሰብሳቢዎች ፊት ተቃውሞውን አሰማ ሲል ኢሳት ዘገበ።

ጠቅላይ ሚኒስትሩ በአዳራሽ ውስጥ እንዲህ ያለ የተቃውሞ  ያጋጥመኛል ብለው ስላላጠበቁ ተደናግጠው ንግግራቸውን አቆርጠው እንደነበር  ኢሳት በዘገባው ገልጿል።አበበን የፀጥታ ሀይሎች በሰላም ከአዳርሽ እንዲወጣ እንዳደረጉት ኢሳት ገልጿል።

አቶ መለስ በአለም አቀፍ መድረክ ላይ ንግግር ለማድረግ ሲሄዱ ተቃውሞ ሲገጥማቸው የመጀመርያው ባይሆንም የጋዜጠኛ አበበ ገላው ጠቃውሞ ግን አቶ መለስን ያስደነገጠ እና በአቶ መለስ ላይ ተቃውሞው መጠንከሩን ለአለም ህብረተሰብ ያሳየ ነው ሲሉ ታዛቢዎች ይናገራሉ።