Ethiopia expels US journalist
2010-06-19 22:12
Addis Ababa - Authorities in Ethiopia expelled a Voice of America radio journalist who had been reporting near a rebel area in the east of the Horn of Africa country, a media watchdog said on Saturday.
"We condemn the expulsion of Heather Murdock," said the Committee to Protect Journalists, after Ethiopian security services arrested the journalist on Thursday in the eastern region of Harar.
Murdock, who said she was reporting on the town's semi-domesticated hyenas that are a major tourist attraction, had her material confiscated and was sent to Addis Ababa where she boarded a flight to Cairo.
"This journalist has broken the law. The Ethiopian government has all the rights to defend itself against such behaviours," an official told AFP on condition of anonymity.
The official said Murdock's business visa had expired and that she had been working in the country on a tourist visa.
Murdock arrived in Ethiopia last month after she was expelled from Yemen in April following a reporting trip to strongholds of the country’s armed separatist Southern Movement.
- SAPA