#Ethiopia

ALERTS!

Unlawful detentions and intimidations on OMN journalists continue.

On the 26th of April, government security forces briefly detained OMN journalist Yihun Engida (editor) and cameraman Mohammod Ebiso in East Shawa zone of Oromia Regional State. The two were on a field trip to gather information for balancing an investigative report that OMN has been working on. Two patrol vehicles of the security forces escorted the journos from Sodare all the way to Adama before they briefly detained, interrogated and released them. The security forces asked OMN journos to produce a permission paper from district authorities to travel and report in the area — this being in contravention to the country’s law that OMN as a legally licensed independent media can report from anywhere in the country without having to seek permission from localities to which it dispatches its media crew for field reports.

It’s recalled that OMN’s media crew had to face quite similar challenges earlier in Ambo, Sabata , Gambella and also in the capital Finfinne/Addis Ababa.

#OMN