[By Hanna Sisay Kidani from Sweden]
December 18, 2009 - On behalf of the European Union, the Sweden Presidency expresses its concern on freedom of expression in Ethiopia. The declaration stated, The European Union is concerned about the fact that the private newspaper Addis Neger has closed down and the allegations of harassment and intimidation of journalists.
A free and independent media is a cornerstone of a democratic society. The EU urges the Government of Ethiopia to ensure that allegations of harassment and intimidation against any section of the media are investigated and, if proven, that those responsible are held to account. Read the full declaration.
On related news, Sweden’s Minister for International Development Cooperation, Gunilla Carlsson speaks on freedom of expression in Ethiopia.”It is a serious matter that one of the few independent newspapers in Ethiopia has been closed. Reports that journalists have been harassed are a cause for great concern,” says Gunilla Carlsson.
“Free and independent media are one of the cornerstones of a democratic society. It is particularly important that the media are allowed to conduct their business freely and that people are allowed to take part in an open debate ahead of the upcoming elections in Ethiopia next year,” Ms Carlsson stresses.
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Freedom of expression is increasingly being limited in Ethiopia. The newspaper Addis Neger has been forced to close and three of its editors have left Ethiopia.
Addis Neger has been one of the few private newspapers in Ethiopia. It was based in Addis Ababa and was published weekly in Amharic. The newspaper has now closed and three of its editors have left the country. According to reports, the editors were threatened with prosecution under a new anti-terrorism law and people working for the newspaper have long been under pressure. The fact that the scope for democracy and pluralism is shrinking in Ethiopia is particularly serious given the upcoming elections in 2010.
December 19th, 2009 at 3:44 pm
ወይ ነዶ መሞትና አንበሴ
ባለማቓረጥ የምታደርጉት የወያኔን ሻጥር የማጋለጥ ጽሁፋችሁ ,ጥሩ ቅልጥም ሰባሪ ዜጋዎች እንደሚያሰኛችሁ ጥርጥር የለኝም :ይህ የወይኔ መጥኔ መንግስት የኢትዮጵያን ህዝብ በግድ ውደዱኝ አክብሩኝ ባይ በዕብሪት የተለከፈና ለራሱ
ጥቅም የቆመ መሆኑን በተደጋጋሚና በየአጋጣሚው ተነጋግረንበታል :: ይህ የወይኔ መጥኔ ቡድን ከፍርሃቱ የተነሳ
በህዝብ ተወዳጅ የሆነችዋን, ብርቱካንን ዕስር ቤት በመቆለፍ, ልጇንና እናትዋንም የህሊና ዕስረኛ አድርጛቸዋል:
እንዴት ብንናቅ ነው ኢትዮጵያ የፖለቲካ እስረኛ የላትም የምንባለው? እነዚህ የወይኔ መጥኔ ጋንግ በቁማችን ሱሪያችንን ከገፈፉት ቆይተዋል : ከአንትራክስ የበለጠ ሂትለራዊ ዕባጭ ሃገሪቱ ላይ ከተነሰነሰ 19ነኛውን ያዘ::
ኢትዮጵያችን ሰው ስራሽ የሆነ የቸነፈር ማዕበል እያጥለቀለቃትና ለአንዱ (በተለይም) ለገዥው ዘር የሚደረገው ዓይን ያወጣ አድሎ ማንንም ዜጋ የሚረብሽ ነው : ታዲያ ይህንን እያዩ እንደ ዾሮና ሙድሰን የሚባሉ የመጥኔ ወያኔ ግልገል የውስጥ አርበኞች ጉያችን ገብተው ውዥንብር መንዛትን ሲፈልጉም ደርሶ ወያኔ ተቃዋሚ መምሰልን አውቀውበታል:
በተለይ ዶሮማ ተረትና ምሳሌ አራሚ, ደርሶ ዓረፍተ ነገር አስተካካይ,የአማርኛ ቓንቓ ካራቲስት ነኝ ማለት ብቻ ነው የቀረህ ,እና ይህ ጥልፍ መስመር (web site) አገልግሎቱ ለሁሉም ሆኖ ሳለ ,ዓቢይ አላማው የዓፓርታይድን መጥኔ ወያኔ መንግስት መፋለም ነው ,በተቻለን መጠን ከዚህ እብደት ከተቀላቀለበት እያሰርክ ፍታ ,እያሰርክ ፍታ, እያሰርክ ፍታ,የትም ያልታየ የፖለቲካ ቅዠት የ Gestapo አቅጣጫ ለመሆኑ ግልጽ ነው ::
መለስም ይህ የአልቤንያን ፖሊሲና አፍነህ ግዛው እየተጠላለፈበት ቢያስቸግረውም , ወደብልጽግናው በመነከር, አደገኛ አትንኩኝ ባይ, አድንቁኝ ባይ ኢጎይስት ለመሆን በቅትዋል : “ምን ያለበት ምን አይችልም እንዲሉ”.
ዜጋ ሰላዮች ሆይ! ላንድ አፍታ የኢትዮጵያን ህዝብ አስቡት,ላንድ አፍታ ከህሊናችሁ ጋር ተመካከሩ! ወይም አይ ወያኔ መጥኔ ለኔ የምትሉ ከሆነ ግልጽ ሁኑ: የወያኔን መንግስት ለምቃወም በሚደረግ ሰልፍ ሁሉ, ደርሶ ተቃዋሚ በመምሰልና ባንዲራ በመከናነብ ካሜራ እያያዛችሁ ጭራችሁን ከግራ ወደቀኝ መነስነሱን አቁሙና ወያኔን በመደገፍ እዛው ቦታ ላይ Counter oppsition ብታደርጉ ትልቅ ርስፔክት ታገኛላችሁ አትጠራጠሩ; ዓደራ ታዲያ በጋቢ እንዳትከናነቡ ትልቅ ችግር ነው የምትገቡት::
ጸሎት! ኢትዮጵያ እባክሽን እጆችሽን በምድርሽ ላይ ለተፈጠሩትና አንቺን እንደእናት ለተቀበሉሽ ሁሉ የይቅርታሽን ክንድ ዘርጊላቸው!!!ዓሜን
December 19th, 2009 at 6:31 pm
mela mela, እንደው ሆድ የባሰህ ትመስላለህ. ለመሆኑ የወያኔን መንግስት ለምቃወም በሚደረግ ሰልፍ ሁሉ, ደርሶ ተቃዋሚ በመምሰል /edited/ አቁሙ …///
December 21st, 2009 at 1:52 pm
// they have no words other than “concern”. they said we are concern we/ethiopians are the vicitm and can they shut up and swallow their concern that does not do any good to the people of ethiopia. If we united and act together for the same value, we can take care of ourselves. They can keep their concern in their conference room.
God bless Ethiopia
go G7.