Journalist attacked, threatened in her Addis Ababa home

Armed intruders physically attacked and threatened an Ethiopian freelance journalist in her Addis Ababa home with the clear aim of intimidating her in connection with her reporting. “Next time we’ll hit you harder," Lucy Kassa was told by the three armed men in civilian clothes who forced their way into her home on 8 February, knocked her to the ground, turned the place upside down and took a computer, a USB stick and photos she had collected in the course of reporting one of her stories. She had been covering the conflict between Ethiopia’s federal government and the local authorities in the northern Tigray region, tackling sensitive topics. When reached by RSF, Kassa said she no longer felt safe in Ethiopia’s capital, Addis Ababa. A few hours after the phone call, a car overtaking at high speed nearly smashed into the taxi in which she was travelling in the city.