At least six publications have had to close in recent months and around 30 journalists have fled abroad since the start of the year as a result of the biggest crackdown on the privately-owned press since 2005, one reflecting a government desire to make a clean sweep of independent media before parliamentary elections next May, local analysts say.

In the latest development, Reporters Without Borders learned on 1 November that magazine editor Temesgen Desalegn has been transferred to a prison in the town of Ziway, about 200 km away from Addis Ababa to serve the three-year jail sentence of his 13 October condemnation.

Desalegn was convicted of publishing reports about “politicians and journalists linked to terrorist groups” in the now-closed newspaper Fitih, which he edited before becoming the editor of Fact, a magazine closed in August. These charges were dropped after originally being brought against Desalegn in connection with a defamation case in 2012, but were revived last year.

“We are extremely concerned about Temesgen Desalegn’s conviction and his transfer to a prison far from his family, especially as he has chronic health problems,” said Cléa Kahn-Sriber, the head of the Reporters Without Borders Africa desk.