Nairobi - Ethiopia's government has jailed more than 160 journalists since taking power in 1991, the press freedom group Reporters Sans Frontieres (RSF) said yesterday, appealing for the release of eight reporters still in prison.
"Although fewer journalists are now in jail [than two years ago], Ethiopia is still Africa's biggest prison for the profession," the Paris-based group said. It said four of the imprisoned journalists had been there since 1997. Some of them have been convicted of press offences, while others are alleged to have taken part in "terrorist activities".
They include a Djiboutian journalist, Mr Amir Adaweh, who is believed to have been arrested while on holiday in Ethiopia last July and is said to have been shot in the legs by a guard while in prison in the eastern city of Harrar.