Girmay Gebru, a BBC reporter in the Tigray region, has been detained by the military.
Girmay Gebru, who works for the BBC Tigrigna, was arrested alongside four other people in a cafeteria in Mekele city on Monday by uniformed soldiers, BBC Amharic reported.
The motive for their arrest was not clear. According to the BBC, the reporter was taken to a military camp in Mekele.
The BBC reporter was arrested few days after two local fixers working with foreign media organizations have been detained in Mekele. Fitsum Berhane, who was working with the AFP news agency, was arrested by uniformed Ethiopian soldiers on Friday night at his home. Alula Akalu, a fixer for the Financial Times, was arrested on Saturday at a restaurant in the city.
This is a no no. The government’s option should have been limited to expelling the reporter out of the country after complaining about his reports. Who is jailing this reporter? The federal army or the local law enforcement forces? In any case he should be released immediately. The regime should not be in the business of creating ‘martyrs’ out of undeserved prevaricators.