The Daily Plan-it / Dean of Students Blog, Columbia J-school

CPJ has kindly set aside two seats for J-school students for this event. If you would like to attend, you MUST follow the instructions at the bottom. There is a chance they will be able to accommodate one or two more people closer to the event.

CPJ Luncheon: The Crackdown on the Private Press in Ethiopia

Following antigovernment protests last November, the Ethiopian government blocked most private newspapers from publishing; raided newspaper offices, confiscating computers, documents and other materials; expelled two foreign journalists; and issued a “wanted list” of editors, writers, and dissidents. Fourteen journalists were arrested and charged with genocide and treason, offenses punishable by death. Two more are in jail after being convicted of “press offenses” under Ethiopia’s restrictive media law.

On March 3, CPJ Africa Program Coordinator Julia Crawford, Nairobi-based editor Charles Onyango-Obbo, and CPJ Board Member Charlayne Hunter-Gault traveled to Addis Ababa to pressure authorities to release Ethiopian journalists jailed in the massive crackdown. The CPJ delegation met with Ethiopian journalists, lawyers, diplomats, and top government officials, including Prime Minister Meles Zenawi. CPJ was also allowed to visit Kality Prison, on the outskirts of the capital, where dozens of opposition leaders and at least 14 journalists are being held. The delegation spoke for close to an hour with several of the imprisoned journalists, all of whom professed their innocence.

CPJ is pleased to host a luncheon with Julia Crawford to discuss CPJ’s work in Ethiopia. Advance copies of a special report on the delegation’s findings will be available.

Friday, April 28
12:30-2 PM (light lunch served)
CPJ offices
330 Seventh Avenue (b/w 28th and 29th streets)
11th Floor

Below is a link to some of our recent work on Ethiopia:
http://www.cpj.org/regions_06/africa_06/africa_06.html#ethiopia

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Cheers, Deans Sreenivasan & Huff