UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The United Nations informed Ethiopia on Friday that it has no legal right to expel seven U.N. officials whom it accused of “meddling” in the country’s affairs.

Global Journalist: Eritrea's opportunity

March 25, 2017 - It is wrong to fight alongside forces whose main aim is to destroy Ethiopia, says Samrawit Sisay, who recently defected from Ginot 7 and returned to Ethiopia. In a video interview with Ethiopia First, Samrawit tells her story of why she went to Eritrea and joined Ginbot 7, what she witnessed there during her period with Ginbot 7, and why she finally decided to leave Eritrea and return to Ethiopia. In the video interview, Samrawit warns others not to make the same mistake she did. She advises fellow Ethiopians to struggle for a better democracy, justice and fairness here at home, rather than going to Eritrea and fight alongside Shaebia. Shaebia does not stand for a better Ethiopia, says Samrawit, but for a weak and fragmented Ethiopia

መቐለ — 

‘ኢትዮጵያ ብዛዕባ ምስ ኤርትራ ዝተኸተለቶ ፖሊሲ ዳግም ገምጊማ ከምዝዛዘመትን ኣብ’ዚ ቀረባ ሓድሽ ፖሊሲ ናብ ህዝቢ ወግዓዊ ከምዝግበርን’ ቀ/ሚ ኃይለማርያም ደሳለኝ ገሊጾም።

“When prison became a synonym for Eritrea…you can only flee.”

In Eritrea, even being part of the East African nation’s tame state media is no protection. That was the conclusion Abraham Zere reached after years of working as a columnist for the government newspaper Hadas Erta and later for the ruling party’s magazine. 

All independent media outlets in the country of 6 million were closed in 2001 amid a massive crackdown on internal dissent following the country’s disastrous two-year border-war with Ethiopia. More than a dozen prominent journalists were jailed – and to this day it’s not known how many are still alive.