Asmara Detains VOA's Journalist
Addis Ababa, July 15(ENA)--A journalist working for the Voice of America radio has been detained in Eritrea and deported to a military training camp, Reuters quoted diplomats as saying on Monday.
Aklilu Solomon, an Eritrean, was taken from his home by four security officers on July 8. Government officials said he had been taken to do national service, which is a legal requirement in the Red Sea state.
Acting Minister of Information, Mr. Ali Abdu Ahmed, told BBC that Aklilu has been avoiding national service. He added, 'it is everyone's legal and moral obligation to do national service. This man has been avoiding it. That is why he has to go to Sawa.'
But diplomatic sources in Eritrea, which has a bad record of press freedom, said Aklilu had documents to show he had already done national service and was medically unfit to serve.
''We are concerned about the reported deportation of VOA stringer Aklilu Solomon,'' Reuters quoted a U.S. embassy official as saying in Asmara said. ''We have made enquiries about this with the Eritrean authorities.''
Eritrea has been Africa's biggest jailer of journalists since 2001, according to the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ).
President Isayas Afewerki banned all independent newspapers in 2001 and subsequently arrested eighteen journalists and imprisoned them without charge.
The 32 years old journalist, Aklilu, was one of only two local journalists in Eritrea who do not work for state-controlled media. VOA broadcasts in Tigrinya across Eritrea and is funded by the U.S. government.
''The ruling party has a firm grip on the state media, whose employees face censorship and also practise self-censorship,'' a recent CPJ report said.
''Afewerki has been unfazed by persistent international denunciation of his human rights record and continues to dismiss foreign critics as enemies of Eritrea.''
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