In some cases, such as that of Ethiopian Review, it’s apparent why official frustration at the media boils over. The US-based website, the Ethiopian Review is virulently opposed to Meles’s regime, which has ruled the country since helping overthrow a Marxist military junta in 1991. It publishes a torrent of anti-government agitprop. Last year, Saudi billionaire Mohamed al-Amoudi, who invests huge amounts in the nation he was born in, won about $272,000 in damages in a British court from Elias Kifle, the website’s owner, after it falsely accused him online of hunting down his errant daughter so she could be stoned to death. Ethiopian Review’s “insurgent journalism” and outspoken criticism from the likes of Fiteh make them enemies of the state in a divisive political landscape. “They still have the guerrilla mindset,” a local journalist says about the former rebels now in charge. “They think the free media is the enemy of them.” … [read more]