The managing editor of Addis Standard, Million Beyene, was seized from the outlet's newsroom in the capital on Wednesday by a group of unidentified men in plain clothes, the publication's publisher said. His whereabouts remain unknown four days later.
Jakenn Publishing PLC, which publishes Addis Standard, said in a statement that Beyene was taken from the office at approximately 10:40 a.m. on April 15 after the men told him he was "needed for questioning." Security camera footage reviewed by the publisher showed at least three men wearing caps and face masks entering the building in a coordinated fashion, approaching Beyene, and escorting him out.
Jakenn Publishing said its legal team has contacted the Addis Abeba Police, the Federal Police Commission, and the Lemi Kura Sub-City Police Department. All four police departments have denied holding Beyene. Federal Police Commission communications head Jeylan Abdi confirmed to the Committee to Protect Journalists that Beyene is not in federal custody and said Beyene's family had confirmed the same. Senior surveillance officers from both the Addis Abeba and Federal Police commissions reviewed the security footage and said the men seen taking Beyene away are not members of their forces, according to the Jakenn statement.
"The taking of Million Beyene by unidentified individuals is unacceptable and deeply troubling," said Yonas Kedir, Editor-in-Chief of Addis Standard. "We call for his immediate release, and we urge authorities to act swiftly to ensure his safety and uphold the rule of law."
The Committee to Protect Journalists on Thursday called on Ethiopian authorities to locate Beyene and secure his release. "Million Beyene's disappearance from the Addis Standard newsroom marks a disturbing new chapter in the troubles faced by this respected digital outlet after authorities revoked its registration certificate in February," CPJ Africa Program Coordinator Muthoki Mumo said in a statement. "Ethiopian authorities must immediately establish who took Million Beyene away, ensure his release, and hold those responsible to account."
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The disappearance follows the Ethiopian Media Authority's revocation of Addis Standard's registration certificate in February, on grounds that the outlet had disseminated reporting that "undermined national interests." Addis Standard is one of the country's last remaining independent digital outlets and maintains a subscriber base of close to one million on X. Jakenn Publishing said in its statement that Beyene's abduction comes amid "repeated and intensifying security and administrative pressures" targeting the newsroom in recent months. Addis Standard was subject to a newsroom raid in 2025 and a ban in 2021.
The case adds to a pattern of pressure on media outlets in the seven weeks before Ethiopia's June 1 general election. In October 2025, the Ethiopian Media Authority suspended the licenses of all nine Deutsche Welle correspondents; seven were later reinstated, but two who covered the Tigray and Amhara regions remain banned. In January 2026, the authority revoked the operating license of the online outlet Wazema Radio. In February, the authority declined to renew the accreditation of three Reuters journalists in Addis Abeba and withdrew the agency's accreditation to cover the 39th African Union Summit, days after Reuters published an investigation alleging Ethiopia was hosting a training camp for fighters linked to Sudan's Rapid Support Forces. Also in February, an Agence France-Presse journalist was blocked from flying to Tigray.
Ethiopia ranks 145th out of 180 countries in the 2025 Reporters Without Borders press freedom index. The expansion of the Ethiopian Media Authority's powers followed an April 2025 amendment to the country's media law, which transferred the ability to suspend, revoke, or fine media licenses directly to the authority and weakened transparency requirements for its board appointments. Asked earlier this year whether the government would revisit the DW suspensions, Foreign Minister Gedion Timotheos said he could not intervene in decisions made by the Media Authority, which he said is accountable to Parliament.
