Dawit Kebede

Dawit Kebede

Dawit Kebede (Born September 11, 1980) is an Ethiopian print media journalist and winner of the 2010 CPJ International Press Freedom Award.

Early career

After graduating in journalism and communication from Unity University, he became a columnist in Ethiopian newspapers on socio-political issues. He later worked at Habesha Journal magazine, a bilingual health journal. In 2004 Dawit founded and became editor-in-chief of Hadar Newspaper, which has been critical of the policies of Prime Minister Zenawi's government.

2005 Election Controversy

During the 2005 Ethiopian general election, Dawit criticized the Ethiopian government by writing articles and editorials suggesting that the EPRDF might have lost the election. In June 2005 police opened gunfire in Addis Ababa against protesters, massacring numerous unarmed opposition supporters. Dawit condemned these actions.

In November 2005 authorities arrested him with senior leaders of the opposition Coalition for Unity and Democracy for alleged involvement in the demonstrations.^[1] All were charged with treason, genocide, and attempts to subvert the constitution, and though the court sentenced the prisoners to life in prison they were pardoned and freed in July 2007. Though many of the editors in jail with Dawit have gone into exile.

Recent career

He established a new company in March 2008 and began publishing the Awramba Times newspaper, of which he is Managing Editor. Currently Awramba Times is the second largest Ethiopian newspaper and the country’s only newspaper that questions state authorities according to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ).

Awards

Dawit Kebede won CPJ's International Press Freedom Award in 2010 for risking his freedom and security in the course of his reporting.^[2]

References

1. ^ Cooper, Ann. "CPJ letter to Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi". Committee to Protect Journalists. http://www.ifex.org/ethiopia/2005/11/09/cpj_protests_ethiopian_government/. Retrieved 20 October 2010. 
2. ^ "Dawit Kebede, Ethiopia 2010 CPJ International Press Freedom Awardee". Committee to Protect Journalists. http://cpj.org/awards/2010/dawit-kebede-ethiopia.php. Retrieved 20 October 2010. 

Persondata
Name	Kebede, Dawit
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	September 11, 1980
Place of birth
Date of death
Place of death