Ethiopian photojournalist Aziza Mohamed held without charge

Ethiopian photojournalist Aziza Mohamed held without charge

Aziza Mohamed was arrested while covering Muslim protests. (Facebook/Addis Guday)

August 2, 2014, Nairobi–CPJ is alarmed by the detention of Addis Guday (“Addis Affairs”) photojournalist Aziza Mohamed, who has been in custody for two weeks without charge. Police arrested Aziza on July 18 while she was covering Muslim protests near Anwar Mosque in the capital Addis Ababa, local journalists told CPJ. She is being held at the Addis Ababa police headquarters.

Police investigators presented Aziza before the Kirkos First Bench Court today but requested further time for their probe before bringing formal charges, local journalists said. According to local journalists who attended the hearing, police told the court that Aziza was inciting protesters to violence during the demonstration. However, Aziza told colleagues who visited her in detention that plainclothes policemen arrested her in a café near the protests, likely after noticing her camera. Police searched Aziza’s home on July 26 and confiscated several music compact discs, local journalists said.

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Ethiopian runners: Police confirm athletes defected to escape civil unrest

Ethiopian runners: Police confirm athletes defected to escape civil unrest

The names of the four pictured athletes are (from left to right): Amanuel Abebe Atibeha; Dureti Edao; Meaza Kebede; Zeyituna Mohammed.

August 2, 2014 (WSJ) — The four Ethiopian runners who disappeared from the IAAF Junior World Championships in Eugene this past weekend defected from their home country to avoid returning to widespread civil unrest there, police confirmed in a report released late Friday.

The report, provided by police in Federal Way, Washington, describes an interview with Zeyituna Mohammed, an 18-year-old woman runner on the Ethiopian national team. She told police that she and the other athletes decided to stay in the U.S. because they were too afraid to return to Ethiopia.

The report confirms for the first time what many close to the case, including the team’s coaches, had suspected — that the athletes’ disappearance was part of a plan to defect from Ethiopia.

Mohammed told authories she may seek asylum in the U.S., but she is not certain of her plans. It remains unclear whether the other three athletes, whom police  found in Beaverton earlier this week, are planning to do so.

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#OromoProtests: Oromo Peaceful Protest Rally in Washington, DC- August 01, 2014.

#OromoProtests: Oromo Peaceful Protest Rally in Washington, DC- August 01, 2014.

Local EU statement on the situation in Ethiopia

Local EU statement on the situation in Ethiopia

July 31, 2014 (Delegation of the European Union to Ethiopia) – The European Union Delegation issues the following statement in  agreement with the EU Heads of Mission in Ethiopia:

“The EU Delegation is deeply concerned about developments in the case of the ten bloggers and journalists charged under the Anti-Terrorism Proclamation on 18 July, as well as recent arrests of opposition members. It calls on the Ethiopian authorities to ensure that proceedings are carried out according to the Ethiopian Constitution and respecting international and regional human rights standards, in particular granting access to legal counsel and family, as well as the right to apply for bail when applicable, and that the trial is transparent and free from political interference.

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