It has been eight days now since Gobeze Sisay, Yegna Tube journalist, was arrested.
The Ethiopian Human Rights Commission (EHRC) on Tuesday confirmed that Gobeze was taken from his residence by plain cloth security officers.
EHRC reported that “the Chief Commissioner expressed concern about the recent arrest of journalist Gobeze Sisay whose whereabouts remain unknown since being taken by plain cloth officers on Sunday morning as of the time of publication of this statement.”
As of Wednesday, Gobeze Sisay did not appear in court and his family members do not know his whereabouts either.
Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s administration has been practicing a crackdown on selected journalists in the country. Tamrat Negera, Terara Media Network co-founder and journalist, was taken from his house and held incommunicado for several days before his whereabouts were known.
He was transferred to the Oromia region prison after he was taken from his home in Addis Ababa, where he stayed until he was released on bail early last month.
Gobez Sisay was prominent in his coverage when the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) ventured a military conquest of Raya the part of what is now the Amhara region that the TPLF annexed as “South Tigray” in 1991.
The Federal Police, Addis Ababa Police or any other authorities did not remark about his arrest at the time of this writing.
