Eritrea accuses Ethiopia of jamming satellite broadcast

January 10th, 2012 - 17:57 UTC

by Andy Sennitt.

Text of report in English by Eritrean Ministry of Information’s Shabait website on 10 January

Asmara, 10 January: The source of the jamming being conducted against Eritrean satellite broadcast has been confirmed to be Ethiopia. Disclosing this fact, the Riyadh-based Arab Satellite Communications said that it has told the regime in Addis Ababa that the practice is illegal.

In connection with this, Mr Asmelash Abraha, director general of Eritrean Television, told Erina [Eritrean News Agency] that in continuation of its hostile policy of blocking information disseminated from Eritrea, the TPLF [Tigray People's Liberation Front, dominant party with in Ethiopian ruling coalition] regime, with the complicity of external forces, is engaged in jamming and interfering activities.

He further reminded that the aforementioned organization that it has both legal and organizational responsibility to ensure uninterrupted service for the satellite broadcast for which Eritrea has made heavy investment, and thus take legal action against the Addis Ababa regime which is conducting illegal jamming activities.

Mr Asmelash also underlined that “regimes that conduct such airwave banditry are those which lack courage and capacity to face the truth being disseminated.”

(Source: Shabait website, Asmara, in English 10 Jan 12 via BBC Monitoring)