Three journalists for the New York Times who were arrested by the Ethiopian military and held for five days have been released, the newspaper reported on Tuesday.
The paper said the journalists, including Nairobi bureau chief Jeffrey Gettleman, were detained on May 16 in the Ogaden region of Ethiopia, near the Somali border.
They were interrogated at gunpoint and released without being charged, the newspaper said.
The journalists were reporting on the separatist conflict taking place there when they were detained by soldiers in the town of Degeh Bur. Government forces have been battling rebels in the region who wants an independent state for the ethnic Somalis who make up the majority in the eastern region’s people.
Gettleman (35) Vanessa Vick (43) a photographer, and Courtenay Morris (34) a videographer, were moved to different jails before authorities released them in Addis Ababa, the paper said.
The journalists were not told why they had been picked up. The paper said Vick was kicked in the back, and all three were threatened repeatedly.
Ethiopian soldiers took all their equipment, refusing to give it back because of security reasons, the paper said.
Times spokesperson Catherine Mathis said the three had returned to Nairobi.
Bill Keller, executive editor of the Times, said his paper was looking for explanations.
”Why were journalists on a legitimate news gathering assignment arrested, imprisoned for five days, manhandled and threatened?” Keller asked.
”Why were they denied a chance to communicate with the American embassy in Ethiopia, or with civilian officials of the Ethiopian government? Why were we unable to get accurate information about their whereabouts and condition?” – Sapa-AP