Ethiopian authorities have arrested a Reuters cameraman in Addis Ababa.
Kumerra Gemechu was reportedly apprehended late last week after police raided his house and confiscated his smartphone, flash drives, papers and personal computer.
Gemechu's family said Monday he had been charged. Ethiopian authorities have yet to comment but sources said that Gemechu will be in custody for at least two weeks.
Gemechu worked as a freelance cameraman for Reuters for more than a decade.
His family said Gemechu was brought to a brief court hearing last week without any lawyer. The presiding judge reportedly ordered Kumerra be detained for at least 14 days while police conduct an investigation.
According to his family, 10 armed federal police officers arrived at their home and arrested Gemechu in front of his wife and three children.
On Monday, Reuters released a statement "strongly condemning" Kummera's arrest.
"Kumerra is part of a Reuters team that reports from Ethiopia in a fair, independent and unbiased way. Kumerra's work demonstrates his professionalism and impartiality and we are aware of no basis for his detention," Reuters said.
The Ethiopian Broadcasting Authority previously accused Reuters and other international news media companies of "false" and "unbalanced" coverage of the conflict in the country's Tigray region.
Gemechu's arrest comes just weeks after a Reuters photographer was beaten by Ethiopian federal police. On Dec. 16, Tiksa Negeri was approached by police while covering the conflict in the region and then beaten.
"We stand by our reporting on the conflict in the Tigray region and will continue to report on Ethiopia with integrity, independence and freedom from bias, as we do all around the world," Reuters said in a separate statement.
The Committee to Protect Journalists said that Gemechu's arrest was another example of how Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed suppressed press freedom in Ethiopia after a "short-lived hope of reform." The organization said at least seven journalists in Ethiopia had been arrested since the fighting began in the country. Five of those arrested were covering the conflict in the Tigray region.
