February 26, 2021 (Walta) – The disinformation campaign being pursued to mislead the international media community about the situation in Tigray is intolerable and appropriate measures would be taken against the orchestrators.
Tigray Regional Head of Prosperity party Ato Habtay Gebreegziabher told EPA, earlier today following what he described as; “ruthless individuals and groups are trying to supply wrong information to media crew that has set feet in Tigray.”
In a statement on Feb.24, 2021, the government announced as access was given to journalists from seven international media agencies. AFP, Al Jazeera, New York Times, France 24, Reuters, BBC and Financial Times have got the access.
He said that both the federal government and the Tigray Interim Administration have zero tolerance for culprits of the disinformation campaign.
The current stage of the law enforcement operations, rebuilding Tigray and bringing remnants of the Junta to justice, is being undertaken in pursuance of the State of Emergency (SoE) proclamation.
War-mongering groups and individuals who are attempting to advance their ill interests have been working to prolong the public woes in the State, he said, adding that such desperate and irresponsible acts would never materialize.
“We’ll identify those who try to spread lies and bring them to justice.” These elements are not only inherently biased; they also intentionally take incidents out of the context and scale to serve their own ill interests, he said.
Adding, he noted that the elements are also part of a diehard alliance that wishes to disunite Ethiopia.
Despite the efforts of the provisional administration and the Federal Government to ensure relief operations are smooth and lifesaving operations are safe and secured, these propagandists are misguiding the international community disproportionately presenting and propagating false information on incidents and sharing the same to several foreign outlets infusing doubts and exacerbating the post-law enforcement situation in Tigray.
The provisional administration and the Federal government have facilitated the necessary access to the international media community in a bid to help them maintain their utmost commitments on transparency and fulfillment of their obligations under national and international laws for the respect of human rights in special times like this one, where the state of emergency is under enforcement in the State, according to him.
The interim administration in coordination with the Federal government shall continue to take appropriate measures against these heinous elements in defense of the protection of the interests of the general public, he added.