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።

Eskinder, Andualem's trial POSTPONED

Addis Neger

The long anticipated verdict on Andualem Arage, Eskinder Nega and others 22 defendants POSTPONED to July 21 (Sene 14).

The session that lasted only for 10 minutes attracted many journalists and observers including the USA and UK ambassadors. The judges announced that, in the most grumbling explanation common to all political trials, they cannot give the verdict because “they couldn’t get the file copied [or transcribed] in time” (filu betsihuf tegelbito selaldereselen). The court hasn’t specified what kind of files are to be copied or transcribed that needed a month and half till the next session. Neither is known if the judges actually gave a decision or waiting for a direction from the political establishment.

The main reason to postpone the trial could be the ongoing World Economic Forum meeting and the media attention came with it.

Andualem and Eskinder were in good spirit and shape as a journalist attended the session told Addis Neger.

Breaking News : Students Protest in Bahir Dar and Gonder Universities

By Derese Tariku, for De Birhan 

Addis Abeba

09 May 2012

Following the protests and arrest of students of Debre Markos University, northern Ethiopia, in the past two days, the students of Bahir Dar University and Gonder University have began large scale protests today. It has been confirmed that both Poly and Peda Campuses of Bahir Dar University (BDU) and Tewodors and Maraki Campuses of Gonder University (GU) have spent the whole day today (09May 2012) protesting. "The student's protest is spreading like a wildfire" said a student from Maraki Campus, GU.  Regional police force and Federal police are approaching the campuses.

Several students have been injured and arrested following "rights related" protests by Debre Markos University  students in the past two days. "Food poison" is also said to be one of the causes.

There are over 40,000 students in both Bahir Dar and Gonder Universities enrolled in the regular program.