Ethiopia: Journalists becoming the news

Thursday, May 31st, 2012

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by Hindessa Abdul
Journalist Abebe Gellaw could hardly contain his emotions when he met Ethiopian PM Meles Zenawi at the Ronald

Journalist Abebe Gellaw

Reagan Building. He just had to say a piece of his mind in the presence of the leaders of Benin, Ghana and Tanzania, all of whom – unlike Meles – came to power through the ballot box. Hours after what transpired in the conference room, Meles’ lecture on food security (rather insecurity) was turned into a footnote, overshadowed by Abebe’s cry for freedom.

The incident produced instantly iconic screen shots of Meles who looked scared and depressed. Little did we know that the man, who can unleash US made Humvees on civilian protesters at will; the man who gave the shoot to kill order that took the lives of close to 200 people, has indeed his moments of fear. That’s what those images have shown us. In the end, all the news outlets had to report was that single action.
VOA Amharic who sent a reporter to the conference room thought that action was not newsworthy. It barely mentioned it in its news cast of that day. The Washington, DC based broadcaster eventually budged to the pressure of its audience two days after the incident. VOA executives decided to air the words as they were said. They also went out of their way explaining why the report was not ready by broadcast time. Lame excuses!
Moments after the incident, the video had gone viral. If the random figures on YouTube and other social networking sites are any indication, more than 300,000 people had watched the video in couple of days.
Over the weekend most government and TPLF affiliated media took turns condemning Abebe as an “extremist Diaspora.” There was yet another chance to bash the Diaspora, which arguably happens to be the top most foreign currency earner for the country. Notable among the critics was Mimi Sebhatu, who compared Abebe’s action with the fascists who jeered Emperor Haile Selassie at the League of Nations in May 1936. She assured the audience that Abebe is a member of Ginbot 7.
Enter Heinlein
Last Friday, VOA East Africa correspondent who is based in Addis Ababa, Mr. Peter Heinlein had a chance to be in the shoes of countless Ethiopian journalists. He was made to pay a visit to the notorious Maekelawi prison in the north of Addis. He was a subject of a lengthy interrogation after his arrest by security agents in the midst of the Friday prayer at a mosque in Addis. He and his interpreter Semegnesh Yekoye were taken into custody.
He was suspected of doing the job that brought him to the country in the first place. He is an accredited correspondent of VOA with over a quarter of a century of reporting in various countries.
His arrest was so arbitrary nobody knows the exact reason for his detention. Government spokesperson Shimeles Kemal who initially didn’t know the whereabouts of the reporter talked of “illegal reporting,” whatever that means. He later explained that the correspondent used diplomatic vehicle. Alas, he was driving his spouse’s car who happened to be a diplomat in Addis.
Fortunately for him he was not charged with terrorism unlike the less fortunate Swedish counterparts. He was also luckier than the two expatriates from the Middle East who were deported within 24 hours a week early.
The U.S. Embassy in Addis prevailed upon Ethiopian authorities to secure the release of their own. The regime in Addis didn’t want to annoy their cash cow by keeping the American behind bars.
In that Americans have been lucky. Previously three New York Times correspondents were detained for a week in Ethiopia. Then Bloomberg correspondent Jason McLure was detained. McLure caused the Government Issue a statement calling him “a disgrace for journalism.” Otherwise it was all a happy ending.