ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia: Antoine Galindo, a French journalist arrested last week in Ethiopia on suspicion of conspiring to create chaos has been released, his employer, the specialist publication Africa Intelligence, said on Thursday.
Galindo was “freed after a week in prison and was able to leave Addis Ababa to return to Paris,” editor-in-chief at the publication, Paul Deutschmann, told the media.
Galindo, the newspaper’s East Africa chief, traveled to Ethiopia earlier this month to cover the African Union summit and was arrested on February 22.
Authorities accused the 36-year-old journalist of conspiring to “spark chaos” in the country.
“I’m well and I’m in good health,” he said before leaving Addis Ababa.
“I’ve been treated well,” he said further, despite what he described as difficult conditions in detention.
Deutschman said Galindo’s release was “a real relief” to all African intelligence operatives who were eager to be reunited with him.
Galindo was arrested while meeting with leaders of the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) at a hotel in Addis Ababa.
He was produced before a judge on Saturday, who ordered that his detention be extended until March 1.
Media watchdog groups have called on the government to release the journalist, while the Committee to Protect Journalists Monday said that his unjust arrest “represents a dire environment for Ethiopian reporting in general.”
Ethiopia has expelled several foreign journalists since late 2020.
In July 2020, a Kenyan journalist was detained in Addis Ababa for over a month despite being granted bail by an Ethiopian court.
