Two translators working for AFP and Financial Times held in Tigray (Financial Times)
Posted: 02 Mar 2021, 21:06
Authorities confirm arrests shortly after state-approved reporting trip to north Ethiopian region
Two people working as translators for foreign media in the Tigray region of Ethiopia — including one hired by the Financial Times — have been detained, the regional government has said.
A BBC reporter working for the broadcaster’s Tigrinya service was also arrested by the military on Monday, according to witnesses and the BBC. Separately, a translator working for the New York Times in Tigray was detained on Monday but released on Tuesday, according to a person familiar with the incident.
The arrests came shortly after the federal government had allowed foreign journalists to travel to Tigray in the north of Ethiopia. The region had been off-limits to most foreign media since November, when federal forces mounted what they called a “law and order operation” against the region’s then-government run by the Tigray People’s Liberation Front.
Federal forces ousted the TPLF but low-level fighting has continued and reports of civilian massacres have trickled out in spite of a virtual news blackout. Human rights group say hundreds of people, if not thousands, have been killed.
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Two people working as translators for foreign media in the Tigray region of Ethiopia — including one hired by the Financial Times — have been detained, the regional government has said.
A BBC reporter working for the broadcaster’s Tigrinya service was also arrested by the military on Monday, according to witnesses and the BBC. Separately, a translator working for the New York Times in Tigray was detained on Monday but released on Tuesday, according to a person familiar with the incident.
The arrests came shortly after the federal government had allowed foreign journalists to travel to Tigray in the north of Ethiopia. The region had been off-limits to most foreign media since November, when federal forces mounted what they called a “law and order operation” against the region’s then-government run by the Tigray People’s Liberation Front.
Federal forces ousted the TPLF but low-level fighting has continued and reports of civilian massacres have trickled out in spite of a virtual news blackout. Human rights group say hundreds of people, if not thousands, have been killed.
Continue reading