Ethiopia: Journalist's fate unknown after abduction

[Tilly lavenas]

Dear Friends,
Please send this letter or in your own words concerning Million Beyene, an editor who is being held incommunicado. Violations of the right to freedom of expression have recently intensified, and other Ethiopian journalists have been abducted.  

Good news! Last month many of you wrote on behalf of Ahmed Abdalla Khedir Nasir, a Sudanese pharmacist who had expressed concern to a customer at his business about the ongoing conflict in Sudan. He was overheard, arrested and charged with inciting unrest and disturbance of public peace. The Attorney General of Sudan has now dropped all the charges against him. 

Thanks to all of you for contributing to this welcome outcome.

Tilly & Guy

Abiy Ahmed Ali 
Prime Minister of the Federal Republic of Ethiopia 

Menelik Palace
Lorenzo Te’azaz Road
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Email: in...@pmo.gov.et

X: @AbiyAhmedAli / Facebook: Abiy Ahmed Ali 

Dear Prime Minister

I'm deeply concerned about Million Beyene, who was kidnapped from his newsroom on 15 April. It is being reported that he is imprisoned at a secret detention center without access to a lawyer or his family. There has been no official explanation as to why he is being held.

I understand Million’s case is not an isolated one. Other Ethopian journalists have recently been abducted by masked men in plainclothes.

Please ensure that the authorities carry out an independent, thorough and transparent investigation into Million’s abduction. If he is in custody, I call on you to release him immediately and unconditionally and hold his perpetrators to account. 

Yours sincerely, 

Please send a copy to the ambassador in your country:

H.E. Binalf Andualem Ashenef
Embassy of Ethiopia
3506 International Drive, NW
Washington, D.C. 20008
ethi...@ethiopianembassy.org

HE Ambassador Biruk Mekonnen

Embassy of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia
17 Princes Gate
London SW7 1PZ
london....@mfa.gov.et

For more information about Amnesty’s UA 39/26: https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/afr25/0923/2026/en/