Solomon Abera | |
---|---|
Born | Tsegakiristos 1968 |
Died | December 2011 |
Occupation | presenter, textile worker |
Language | Tigrigna, Amharic & English |
Nationality | Ethiopian |
Spouse | Melkrist |
Children | Abeynera & Abeyneru |
Solomon Abera Gebremichae (1968–2011) was a press freedom advocate, and detractor of the Afewerki government. He died of cancer in December 2011.
Before becoming a journalist Abera was a textile worker. Following the Eritrean War of Independence in 1991 he worked for the Ministry of Information in the new Eritrean government. [1] On September 18, 2001, Abera was the news presenter on state-controlled television that announced the end of Eritrea's independent press and the rounding up of leading independent newspaper editors and ruling-party dissidents. In response to mounting government intimidation and censorship Abera fled Eritrea in 2005. [2]
Following his departure from Eritrea he became an active critic of the Afewerki government on numerous diaspora websites and an advocate for press freedom. [2] In 2009 he began working with Free Press Unlimited providing several trainings and field missions. [3] In 2011 Abera was among a group of exiled Eritrean journalists who met Prime Minister Meles Zenawi of Ethiopia. [2] [4]
Abera's detractors have accused him of being an informant and collaborator with the Ethiopian government, and the Derg regime in particular, during the Eritrean War of Independence. [1]
Solomon Abera | |
---|---|
Born | Tsegakiristos 1968 |
Died | December 2011 |
Occupation | presenter, textile worker |
Language | Tigrigna, Amharic & English |
Nationality | Ethiopian |
Spouse | Melkrist |
Children | Abeynera & Abeyneru |
Solomon Abera Gebremichae (1968–2011) was a press freedom advocate, and detractor of the Afewerki government. He died of cancer in December 2011.
Before becoming a journalist Abera was a textile worker. Following the Eritrean War of Independence in 1991 he worked for the Ministry of Information in the new Eritrean government. [1] On September 18, 2001, Abera was the news presenter on state-controlled television that announced the end of Eritrea's independent press and the rounding up of leading independent newspaper editors and ruling-party dissidents. In response to mounting government intimidation and censorship Abera fled Eritrea in 2005. [2]
Following his departure from Eritrea he became an active critic of the Afewerki government on numerous diaspora websites and an advocate for press freedom. [2] In 2009 he began working with Free Press Unlimited providing several trainings and field missions. [3] In 2011 Abera was among a group of exiled Eritrean journalists who met Prime Minister Meles Zenawi of Ethiopia. [2] [4]
Abera's detractors have accused him of being an informant and collaborator with the Ethiopian government, and the Derg regime in particular, during the Eritrean War of Independence. [1]