Bewket Abebe, chief editor of The Reporter Magazine, was detained for three days in Setit Humera, Western Tigray, after local authorities said he entered the Wolqait Tegede Setit Humera Zone without a required "special permit," raising questions about press access to contested border areas ahead of the 2026 general election.
Bewket was held from March 21 to March 24, 2026, at the Setit Humera detention center. Zone officials told him journalists require specialized permits not only to conduct professional work but to enter the zone at all. He was also told he had violated restrictions by taking photographs on public streets in Humera town.
The detention occurred despite prior coordination with zone leadership. Bewket had pre-arranged interviews in the area, including a tentatively scheduled meeting with Ashete Demilew, the zone administrator. Zone leadership was aware of his travel itinerary and the purpose of his visit before his arrival.
Authorities were reportedly informed of his arrest within the first few hours of detention. He nonetheless remained in custody for three days and three nights without formal charges being filed.
During his detention, Bewket observed that the Setit Humera facility houses both long-term prisoners and short-term detainees. He reported the center processed an average of 100 individuals daily during his stay. The area is characterized by a heavy presence of both federal and local security forces.
No formal charges were brought against Bewket before his release. The specific legal basis for the "special permit" requirement — including which authority issues such permits, under what legislation, and whether the requirement applies uniformly to all visitors or specifically to journalists — remains unclear.
The Reporter is one of Ethiopia's longest-running independent publications, operating continuously since the 1990s.
The detention highlights a largely undocumented restriction on media access to one of Ethiopia's most sensitive administrative zones. The Wolqait Tegede Setit Humera area sits at the center of a territorial dispute between the Tigray and Amhara regional states. The districts were administered by Amhara region before the Tigray conflict but came under a different de facto arrangement following the November 2022 Pretoria Agreement, with a significant ongoing security presence. The House of Federation recently directed the National Electoral Board of Ethiopia to conduct federal-only elections in five disputed districts in the area, a decision that has intensified political tensions. The existence of a permit requirement barring journalists from entering the zone entirely — rather than merely restricting specific reporting activities — suggests a level of access control that extends beyond standard press accreditation procedures. The European Union has separately raised concerns about what it described as "shrinking civic space" in the pre-election period. With the general election approaching, the treatment of an editor from an established outlet attempting pre-arranged, coordinated reporting underscores the obstacles facing independent media seeking to cover contested regions where security operations and civilian detentions are ongoing.
