Reporters Without Borders filed a complaint with the public prosecutor in Paris on 6 November accusing persons unknown of acts of piracy against Radio Erena, an Eritrean exile radio station based in Paris which broadcasts by satellite to the Horn of Africa and which is backed by Reporters Without Borders.
A pirate transmission jammed the station's signal on 14 August. Arabsat, the satellite operator that carried Radio Erena on its BADR-6 satellite, reacted by suspending the station because the jamming was disrupting other signals. It restored Radio Erena on 2 September only to suspend it again two days later, this time indefinitely, because the jamming had resumed. The station's website was meanwhile the target of a cyber-attack on 28 August. More information about all these acts of piracy.
"Radio Erena's programmes can no longer be heard by Eritreans living in Eritrea because its satellite broadcasting has been paralysed for more than three months," Reporters Without Borders said.
"A judicial investigation has to be launched in France with the aim of establishing the precise origin of these acts of sabotage and prosecuting all those responsible, both the perpetrators and the instigators. We have done this because we want to shed light on all the circumstances surrounding this piracy, including where the jamming is coming from and who ordered it.
"Geolocation indicates that the pirate transmission jamming the signal originates from within Eritrea. The government must be doing this in order to gag an independent broadcaster it clearly finds very irritating. This should come as no surprise from the rulers of a country ranked last in the Reporters Without Borders press freedom index for the past five years.
"But President Issaias Afeworki's government will not get away with it. The complaint that we have filed points out that this piracy is completely illegal. Neither Radio Erena nor Reporters Without Borders have said their final word."
The Radio Erena staff and its supporters have been able to repair the damage to the website while mirror sites have been created. But satellite broadcasting has not resumed so the station is not being received in Eritrea or anywhere else in the Horn of Africa.
For the time being Radio Erena is only broadcasting on the Internet, but only the Eritrean diaspora can access the web broadcasts because the Internet is not sufficiently developed in Eritrea.
As a Paris-based radio station, Radio Erena operates under a convention ratified by France's Higher Council for Broadcasting (CSA). The complaint alleged "disruption of over-the-air broadcasting by an authorized service" and "disruption of an automated data processing system" under article L. 39-1 of the Post and Electronic Communications Code and articles 323-2 and 323-5 of the Criminal Code.
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Erena,in our name eritrean: my letter to France Authority:we have domestic problem as any body in the world,but we will sort out our self e dont want you. Remember we had been abused by united nation for 50 years,and you are one of the 5 permanent of UN.America abasader John Delas in 1952 used his power and put eritrea with out our father will put us under brutal ethiopian leaders,HAILESLASE,Mengistu.From 1952 to 1991 more than million people sloughted by ethiopian and eritrean powerful mercenaries.Never ever human right advocated us when we were burning in day light,never bothered for 50 years.France never advocated eritrean people.Why today you gave shelter for those who have hidden agenda/Ethiopia and Us/why?Our mother anf sisters raped and sloughted in day time,some are burried in big gallary like a chicken polluted.So I cant write all the crim committed by UN.Now france wanted eritrea to one of the faild like libya and iraq,but we have been the same for 50 years,we lost everythings is not enough for you?crime!!! Europ failed economically and Us as well,so they are looking country like eritrea to in to bloodshed then they willgo for aids...crime.But I urge eritrea youth,alot gangs,traitors are trained in many parts of ethiopia to kill eritrea mothers and fathers,to commit holocast as 40 years with ethiopia they did.Lets fight them now then we came back to our governmet to push him to do justice and equality to our people.But ifwe leave those mercenaries who are promised by ethiopia leader and american empire and europe they destroyeritrea once for all.We asked France government to evict those traitors as soonas possible,other wise our blooshed is imminant.America and ethiopia are very desprate to see eritrea changed to ashes,the as befoere...many eritrea tribe from low land,took gun from weyane in tigray and crossing the border and are killing civilians and militaries,please stop...stop for god sake....you are repeating the black history mercenaries