I have come across this petition on the internet regarding three of our own engineers detained in an Ethiopian jail. As a tech community, we have not held each others back when the need arose. Had the same happened to an employee in the media or even the law profession, I can assure you the noise on all media (Social and Mainstream) would drown us all. The outcry would be immense.
Below is a link to the petition. I am not sure whether this works but it doesn't hurt to give it a try.
Regards,
Mbote