JOHANNESBURG, Sept 22 (Reuters) – South African investigative journalist Micah Reddy, whose family said he had gone missing while in Djibouti last week, is free and has been deported, a watchdog group said on Tuesday.
Reddy, the Africa editor for the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), arrived in the Horn of Africa nation last Thursday and had been in regular contact with family and colleagues before communication abruptly ceased on Saturday, his brother Niall Reddy told Reuters on Sunday.
The Committee to Protect Journalists Africa said Reddy had been deported, citing his brother Niall.
“Authorities claim he did not have proper media accreditation. He will return to Johannesburg soon. His fixer, Kooki Mahmoud, is apparently released without charge,” CPJ Africa said on X.
CPJ Africa shared on its account a statement from Djibouti’s interior minister Omar Abdi that said Reddy had deliberately avoided obtaining the necessary accreditation while in the country.
Reddy’s family said he had not been on a reporting assignment when in Djibouti.
“It is with immense relief and delight that we share the news that he is on his way back to South Africa, unharmed,” the family said in a statement. “At the time he was detained, he was not in Djibouti reporting on the country or its government.”
On Saturday, a senior official in the Djibouti presidency, Naguib Ali Taher, had said that Micah had not registered for media accreditation in Djibouti.
(Reporting by Nqobile Dludla, Writing by George Obulutsa, Editing by Timothy Heritage)
