TPLF in a Preemptive mood to Silence Media ahead of Ethiopia's 2015 "election"

Government owned Ethiopian Press blasts its Private Counterparts as Extremists 

According to ESAT's (The Ethiopian Satellite Television) report the government run Ethiopian Press Agency and Ethiopian News Agency (an organization which dissolved legally but used its namesake) said that their collaborated recent studies conducted on a few Ethiopian private media revealed the prevalence of extremism on the latter group.  The culprits according to this study are Addis Guday, Fact, Lomi, Qonjo, Jana, Enequ and Lia magazines which are published in Ethiopia recently. AddisZemen, the oldest and the only Amharic government owned daily in the country, published the "findings" on its front page yesterday as seen on the picture alleging these privately owned magazines as promoting extremist organs of political parties. AddisZemen alleges that these magazines are inciting the public against the government with false information. The Newspaper also accuses the magazines for blasphemy/defamation; inciting riots; encouraging terrorism; demonize the political system; deny country's double-digit economic growth and breaching the constitution. A journalist approached by ESAT expressed his fear that such malicious practices by the ruling party is probably a preemptive measure to shut-down the private press ahead of the 2015 National Election in Ethiopia. "The government doesn't want any dissenting views other than its own agenda," said the journalist adding that this latest move might be used as a pretext to kick out the private media from the market. Ethiopia is the second biggest journalists' jailers in Africa and known as the worst predator of the media. It is to be recalled that Eskinder Nega, Shifferaw Insermu, Reeyot Alemu, Woubshet Taye and other journalists are behind bars for exercising their constitutional and universal rights. Fiteh which became the popular Amharic weekly following the 2005 election, was forced to closed down due to TPLF's unprecedented pressure against its staff members harassing them with various fabricated charges.