- Ethiopia Ranks 142nd in Press Freedom, Shiferaw Still in Prison

Ethiopia Ranks 142nd in Press Freedom, Shiferaw Still in Prison

Ethiopia ranks 142nd out of 173 countries in the World Press Freedom Index of the Reporters Without Borders. Eritrea ranks 173rd - making Eritrea a "vast open prison" according to Reporters Without Borders. Out of those journalists imprisoned in Eritrea is Daniel Mussie of the Oromo service of Eritrea's government radio station.

In Ethiopia, Shiferaw Insermu, a journalist on the Oromo service of state-run ETV suspected of being an informer for the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF), is still languishing in prison after he and his colleague Dhabassa Wakjira were arrested for the first time at their homes in Addis Ababa, on 22 April 2004. The federal high court ordered their release on bail on the following 9 August, but only Shiferaw Insermu was set free. The journalist was rearrested on 17 August and released on order of the federal high court in mid-October. ETV refused to allow him to resume his job and he was trying to find other work when he was arrested for a third time, on 11 January 2005. He has remained in custody since that date, most likely at the central prison known as "Kerchiele". Read More.