Controversial journalist Yassin Juma was on Friday, July 3 arrested and detained in Ethiopia by the country’s military.
Juma was allegedly arrested while covering massive protests that erupted in Ethiopia’s Oromia Region, following the death of musician Hachalu Hundessa.
Hachalu was an activist for the Oromo ethnic group and the artist was shot dead while driving in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia’s capital on Monday, June 29.
Over 80 people have been killed in the unrest in Ethiopia.
However, other emerging reports allege that Yassin Juma was arrested out of his friendship with Ethiopian activist Jawar Mohammed.
Jawar, an Oromo, is one of the fiercest critics of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s government.
Juma was reportedly apprehended at the activist’s home.
Juma is famous for covering the plight of the Oromo Liberation Front, a rebel group that has fought a low-level insurgency in southern Ethiopia for more than 30 years.
In January 2016, Juma was arrested in Kenya by the Anti Terror Police Unit over recording contentious information regarding the attack on a Kenya Defence Forces camp in El-Adde, Somalia.
According to police, the former Journalist was arrested following his regular updates on Facebook and Twitter about the Al Shabaab attack which left an unknown number of soldiers dead.
