A coordinated multi-day crackdown by Ethiopian security forces has targeted one of the country’s most prominent independent news outlets, Addis Standard, leaving its editor-in-chief abducted, assaulted, and subjected to lengthy interrogation, according to the outlet’s parent company.
Jakken Publishing, which owns Addis Standard, released a formal statement Thursday detailing the sequence of actions that unfolded over three days starting August 2. The first incident saw editor-in-chief Yonas Kedir forcibly seized by two plainclothes agents on Saturday. In a written statement obtained by Agence France-Presse, Yonas described the abduction as a violent encounter: the pair struck him before forcing him into a double-cab pickup truck, where they accused him of “selling the country out.” He was held in custody for 24 hours during which he endured prolonged interrogation, Jakken Publishing confirmed.
The repression continued the following day, August 3, when an armed security team raided Addis Standard’s Addis Ababa newsroom without presenting any legal warrants or following due process. During the raid, the team confiscated critical production equipment from the outlet’s multimedia studio, crippling its on-site operations. On the third day of action, August 4, local police delivered an official eviction order, giving the outlet just 72 hours to vacate its long-held offices — a space where Addis Standard had operated for 16 years.
The crackdown marks the latest escalation in a year-long campaign against independent media in Ethiopia that began earlier this year. Back in February, the Ethiopian Media Authority revoked Addis Standard’s official media registration, claiming the outlet had violated journalistic ethics and posed unspecified threats to national interests. The outlet never received clarification on which specific reports prompted the action, but it has continued publishing while legally challenging the revocation in Ethiopian courts. To date, the outlet’s website remains operational, and it continues to update readers with on-the-ground coverage of the crackdown and its aftermath, as outlet leadership consult legal and strategic advisors to determine their next steps.
International press freedom and human rights organizations have condemned the coordinated action, framing it as part of a wider pattern of silencing critical journalism in the East African nation. The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) described the recent incidents as an alarming escalation of the Ethiopian government’s systematic campaign to dismantle one of its leading independent news sources.
Human Rights Watch (HRW) echoed that criticism, noting that the harassment of Addis Standard fits into a broader government effort to eliminate any critical coverage of state policy. Over the past 12 months, HRW data shows Ethiopian authorities have arbitrarily detained dozens of journalists, held many of them in incommunicado detention without access to lawyers or family, and stripped multiple independent outlets of their operating licenses. Most recently, the national media authority issued final formal warnings to two other independent outlets — broadcaster Arts TV and radio station Ahadu FM — threatening to suspend or revoke their operating licenses over allegations of repeated violations of national media regulations.
As of Thursday, the Ethiopian government had not responded to repeated requests for comment from the BBC on the recent crackdown against Addis Standard.