Kenyan Embassy in Ethiopia said Thursday it assisted in moving Collins Juma Osemo alias Yassin Juma (pictured) who is held in Ethiopia at an isolation facility after he tested positive for Covid-19 at a police station.
Juma is held in custody days after the local Attorney General ordered his release from custody.
“Kenya Embassy in Ethiopia has managed to assist Collins Juma Osemo alias Yassin Juma, Kenyan journalist arrested in Ethiopia, to move to a government isolation facility after he tested positive for Covid-19 at Sostegna police station where he was held until yesterday,” the ministry of foreign affairs tweeted Thursday.
Juma, a Kenyan journalist was arrested in July along with two Ethiopian journalists.
They are charged with inciting ethnic violence and plotting to kill senior Ethiopian officials, which they strongly deny.
Juma was arrested along with two Ethiopian journalists while covering protests that erupted after the killing of Oromo singer Hachalu Hundessa.
Hundessa, known for his political and activist songs, was gunned down in Addis Ababa in July, sparking widespread ethnic tensions.
Ethiopian police arrested the journalists along with opposition members and leader Jawar Mohammed at his home.
Police accused them of working together and charged them with inciting ethnic violence and plotting to kill Ethiopian officials.
The court ordered their release on bail after police officers failed to produce evidence of any crimes, said Bayisa.
This is not the first time Ethiopian police have ignored court orders to release detained journalists.
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) says an Ethiopian court in March ordered police to release three arrested journalists. But police continued to detain them for weeks before finally letting them go.
Muthoki Mumo is the CPJ’s representative for sub-Saharan Africa.
“I would like to emphasise that the concern about the respect of court orders in the cases of journalists who are detained for us at CPJ goes beyond this very moment and goes even historically, if you look at what has been happening in Ethiopia since January,” said Mumo.
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Kenya’s Ambassador in Addis Ababa Catherine Mwangi sent a protest note on Juma’s detention to Ethiopia’s Foreign Ministry.
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