DAKAR – The Federation of African Journalists (FAJ), has called on Ethiopian Government to free all journalists in jail and create conditions for those in exile to return home and work for their country’s development.
The FAJ President, Mohamed Garba, said this in a statement on Wednesday during a courtesy visit to Ethiopia’s Minister of
“We are very concerned about persistent reports of press freedom violations in Ethiopia and the increasing number of journalists in jail and in exile.
“I join my voice to call on the Ethiopian government to engage the media through genuine dialogue and self-regulation,” Garba added.
Meanwhile, some members of FAJ executive recently paid a visist to the Ethiopia’s Minister for Communication Affairs, Redwan Hussien.
On the delegation were Muheldin Titawi, President of the Eastern Africa Journalists Association (EAJA), Alexandre Niyungeko, Secretary General of EAJA, and Africa Director of the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) Gabriel Baglo.
According to the statement, the minister expressed Ethiopia’s commitment towards ensuring freedom of expression in the country.
He also promised to support putting the issue of journalists’ safety on the agenda of the upcoming Summit of African Union Heads of State.
Speaking on the recent court ruling that closed six publications and resulted in 14 journalists going into exile, Hussien said that the journalists had no justification to run away as they were not charged.
He reiterated the Ethiopian government’s commitment to respect “diversity of thoughts as long as ethical journalism is exercised.’’ [eap_ad_1] According to him, Ethiopia’s democracy is based on accepting and acknowledging ethnic, religious and ideological differences and this is manifested in the country’s constitution which everyone should uphold.
For its part, the delegation reminded the minister that in the East African region, Ethiopia and Eritrea have produced more journalists in jail and in exile.
“This is a bad image for the country that hosts the African Union Commission,’’ the delegation said.’
Also, the delegation expressed the commitment of African journalists’ organisations to work with the Ethiopian government and journalists for the creation and support for ethical media reporting through self-regulation.
“We are here to support African journalism with African values.
“We are ready to give any support to Ethiopian journalists in the light of African shared values and AU instruments such as the Declaration of Principles of Freedom of Expression in Africa,” the delegation assured. (PANA/NAN)
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