Ethiopia suspends publication for ’legitimising terrorist group’
Local Ethiopian news publication Addis Standard has been suspended by the Ethiopian Media Authority.
CAPE TOWN, July 16 (ANA) – Local Ethiopian news publication Addis Standard has been suspended by the Ethiopian Media Authority (EMA) for “legitimising terrorist groups”.
The announcement first came from the Addis Standard’s publisher, JAKENN Publishing plc, which alerted its readers to the temporary suspension of all of its media activities as of Thursday.
“JAKENN deeply regrets and is disturbed by the decision taken today by the Ethiopian Media Authority (EMA) to recall JAKENN’s recently issued media licence without due explanation,” it said.
The publisher assured its readers that all routes would be explored to uphold Ethiopia’s constitution regarding freedom of the press.
EMA issued a statement on Thursday night, after JAKENN’s, explaining the reasons behind the suspension of the publication.
“The temporary suspension followed complaints and alarming trends in EMA’s monitoring findings,” EMA wrote.
“We’ve learned the media has been a platform to advance the terrorist group’s agenda, to the extent of refusing to abide by the decisions of the HPR: legitimizing a terrorist group as a ’Defence Force’. This & other related misconducts will be subject to thorough investigation and further actions will be taken,” the EMA continued.
The EMA insisted that it is committed to press freedom and ethical journalism.
“As a regulatory body EMA would also like to emphasise that freedom comes with responsibility and accountability,” it said.
US-based press freedom activist group the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has referred to Addis Standard as a source of critical reporting in Ethiopia.
“Today’s move to withdraw its licence is the latest demonstration of the government’s hostility towards independent journalism,” CPJ’s sub-Saharan African representative Muthoki Mumo said in a statement on Thursday.
The deputy director general of the media authority, Yonatan Tesfaye, had declined to specify which of Addis Standard’s content was in question nor the laws the publication had contravened, CPJ reported.
Yonatan did say that the publication had been informed of the reason its media licence was withdrawn, the CPJ added.
– African News Agency (ANA); Editing by Yaron Blecher
