Ethiopian Journalist Alleges Detention for Inciting Egypt-Style Protests

An Ethiopian journalist says he was detained and harassed by federal police after comparing conditions in Ethiopia to those in North African states hit by people power protests.

Journalist Eskinder Nega says six heavily-armed policemen jumped from a truck on a busy central Addis Ababa street last week, grabbed him and whisked him away to federal police headquarters. He says during a two-hour detention, he was brought before a deputy police commissioner who did not identify himself, but who warned him his activities were considered seditious.

"He said, 'You've been trying to incite Egyptian and Tunisian-like protests in Ethiopia through writings you do on the Internet,” Eskinder recounted. “And the interviews you give to various news outlets. And he said, 'Nothing similar is going to happen in this country.'"

Federal police officials would not speak on the record about the incident. But when two journalists went to the office of the deputy director general of police, a senior official who would not identify himself said he was 100 percent sure his officers had not detained Eskinder. Read More