- Organisation: Roha TV,
- Case: Detention
- Culprit: police officers
- Country: Ethiopia
- City: Addis Ababa
At around 4 p.m. on Friday, May 27, security officers detained Bekalu, the founder and chief editor of YouTube-based news channel Alpha TV, from his office in the capital of Addis Ababa, according to news reports, his wife Helen Abate, who spoke to CPJ via phone, and a person familiar with his case who spoke on condition of anonymity, citing safety concerns. The following day, around 9:00 a.m. on May 28, police officers arrested Meaza, founder and chief editor of YouTube-based news channel Roha TV, from a colleague’s house, according to news reports, her husband Robel Gebeyehu, and Roha TV reporter Misrak Tefera, both of whom spoke to CPJ by phAccording to Henok Aklilu, one of Meaza’s lawyers who spoke to CPJ by phone, Meaza was brought before the same court on May 30 and accused of public incitement to violence via Roha TV and other unspecified media platforms. She has not been formally charged. The court granted police seven additional days to further investigate the allegations. Robel told CPJ that police searched Meaza’s house and confiscated financial and legal documents unrelated to the arrest. one.