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2015 prison census - Ethiopia: Saleh Idris Gama, Tesfalidet Kidane Tesfazghi

Publisher Committee to Protect Journalists
Publication Date 14 December 2015
Cite as Committee to Protect Journalists, 2015 prison census - Ethiopia: Saleh Idris Gama, Tesfalidet Kidane Tesfazghi, 14 December 2015, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/56701f823f.html [accessed 6 June 2023]
DisclaimerThis is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.
Saleh Idris Gama, Eri-TV
Medium:Television
Charge:No Charge
Imprisoned:December 2006
Tesfalidet Kidane Tesfazghi, Eri-TV
Medium:Television
Charge:No Charge
Imprisoned:December 2006

Tesfalidet, a producer for Eritrea's state broadcaster Eri-TV, and Saleh, a cameraman, were arrested in late 2006 on the Kenya-Somalia border during Ethiopia's invasion of southern Somalia.

The Ethiopian Foreign Ministry first disclosed the detention of the journalists in April 2007 and presented them on state television as part of a group of 41 captured terrorism suspects. Though Eritrea often conscripted journalists into military service, the video did not present any evidence linking the journalists to military activity. The ministry pledged to subject some of the suspects to military trials but did not identify them by name. In a September 2011 press conference with exiled Eritrean journalists in Addis Ababa, the late Prime Minister Meles Zenawi said Saleh and Tesfalidet would be freed if investigations determined they were not involved in espionage, according to news reports and journalists who participated in the press conference.

Tesfalidet and Saleh had not been tried by late 2015, according to local journalists. Ethiopian authorities have not disclosed their legal status, health, or whereabouts.

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