On April 17, the office of Addis Standard, a news outlet based in Ethiopia, was raided by six plainclothes officers claiming to be police. Although they stated they had warrants, they failed to produce copies during the operation.
During the raid, two managers, the HR manager and the newsroom manager were taken in for interrogation at the Federal Police Crime Investigation Unit. Authorities claimed they were allegedly preparing a documentary that could incite violence. However, Addis Standard’s founder told the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) that the outlet does not have the resources to produce documentaries, making the accusation unfounded.
Earlier that same day, police also raided the home of the outlet’s IT manager, who was similarly taken in for questioning. All three managers were released later that day without charges.
However, police confiscated laptops, cellphones, and data storage devices during the raids, demanding passwords for access. They also instructed the managers not to speak publicly about the incident.
JAKENN Publishing PLC, the publisher of Addis Standard, expressed concern over how the seized devices might be handled in custody. “We cannot guarantee the integrity of any messages or emails sent from the compromised devices,” the company said.
According to founder Tsedale Lemma, on April 22 police indicated that the devices might be returned the following week. Today, the outlet remains without access to the confiscated equipment.