00:00 A French journalist is currently being detained by Ethiopian authorities.
00:04 Antoine Galindo was arrested for being part of a conspiracy to create chaos in Ethiopia.
00:10 Earlier I talked to Joanne Tilhouin, his colleague.
00:13 He says Antoine Galindo seems to be in good spirits.
00:16 Well, as far as we know, the conditions, the tensions are harsh.
00:23 But Antoine Galindo is in good spirits and benefits from consular support,
00:27 with daily visits and the right to defend himself with a liar, an Ethiopian liar.
00:32 In some way, he has the strength of the innocent because we are confident,
00:36 as we know, that our journalist is up to scratch and committed to rigorous
00:42 journalistic ethics and high standards of investigative journalists.
00:47 So we are confident in what the justice will have to say.
00:51 So how did the Ethiopian authorities justify this arrest?
00:56 Did he submit any element of proof?
00:58 Well, not for the moment.
01:01 Antoine Galindo was arrested six days ago during a meeting in the heart of Addis Ababa,
01:06 who is a representative of the Ethiopian legal opposition.
01:09 It took us 27 hours to locate him in a police station.
01:14 He was brought before a judge on Saturday, February 24th.
01:20 And we learned that he is under criminal investigation for conspiracy to create chaos
01:25 in Ethiopia, but he has not been formally charged and the investigation is ongoing.
01:30 The magistrate, the judge, wished to give the police one week,
01:34 rather than two, as requested by the police, to present evidence in support of the accusation.
01:41 So let's see on Friday, because there is a new court hearing on this Friday.
01:47 And what about any words from the French authorities in this matter?
01:53 Well, the French authorities are trying to help and to do what they can do, especially
01:58 their mission as a consulate mission.
02:01 But it's really an Ethiopian's affairs.
02:03 I mean, we fail to understand the reason for this arrest.
02:06 And we are very surprised by the reaction of the Ethiopian authority,
02:10 because it's so damaging not only to press freedom,
02:16 but also for the reputation of Ethiopia and the African Union.
02:19 Addis Ababa is a world diplomatic capital, and we deeply regret that Ethiopian and foreign
02:25 journalists seem to be unable to work serenely on major issues of interest to the African continent.
02:34 The Antoine Galindo case shows that it seems to be complicated to work in Addis Ababa,
02:42 which again is a world-class, world diplomatic capital.
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