Abrupt release of Ethiopian bloggers and journalists, an '#ObamaEffect'?

Photo by FissehaFantahun

On the same day (July 8, 2015), and just few hours before this unexpected action which stunned the defendants; their attorney and the whole world, a story was running about jailed journalists Edom Kassaye under the title "An Ethiopian Journalist Jailed for Her Integrity". And a rumor surfaced on the social media around 7 o'clock (Ethiopian local time)  in the evening about the release of Edom Kassaye, Mahlet Fantahun, Asmamaw Hailegiorgis and Tesfalem Woldyes. 

#ዘላለም_ክብረት #ተስፋለም_ወልደየስ እና #አስማማው_ሃይለጊዮርጊስ የክስ ፋይላቸው ተዘግቶ ተፈቱ የሚል መረጃ እየሰማሁ ነው። የቅርብ ወዳጆቻቸው ቢያረጋግጡት መልካም ነው። #FreeZone9Bloggers #Ethiopia

— abraham ab™ (@abrahamabr2) July 8, 2015

The mood was mixed among twitters: confusion, happiness, disbelief, suspicion just to mention but a few. Around 8 o'clock, the news was broken by wazema, an Ethiopian diaspora podcast in Sweden which is run by Mesfin Negash et. al. who was an ex managing editor of AddisNeger and convicted by Ethiopian government with terrorism charges.

[Wazema Alerts] ጦማሪ ዘላለም ክብረት፣ ጋዜጠኞቹ ተስፋለም ወልደየስ እና አስማማው ሃይለጊዮርጊስ ከእስር መፈታታቸው እየተሰማ ነው። "የክስ ፋይላችሁ ተዘግቷል፣ አሁኑኑ... http://t.co/Ufi35CzY3h

— Wazema Radio (@Wazemaradio) July 8, 2015

However, there was no word from the government media until the next day. The government affiliated 'private' broadcaster Fana revealed that 'Five so-called bloggers in the Soliana Shimelis et-al case released in Ethiopia'.

Photo by FissehaFantahun

Some were jubilant while others were cautious and skeptics of Ethiopian government's abrupt move which happened after the court has finished hearing evidences and was due to deliver a guilty-not-guilty verdict the coming week. Some even considered it as an 'Obama effect' where Ethiopian officials are in a preemptive charm-offensive ahead of US President's official visit to the country. It is to be recalled that a few days before this sudden action of the Ethiopian government, thousands of expat Ethiopians in the US made a huge protest in front of White-House demanding Barack Obama not visit Ethiopia.

#zone9bloggers were not released randomly. They appealed to the Supreme Court against their charges and won. Now they can sue #ethiopia govt

— Ember Tegadelay (@ember_tegadelay) July 9, 2015

If one dissects these various approaches, it appears that there are two main camps: pro-government groups on one side and the rest on the other side;the former is defending/justifying the Ethiopian government's action while family members and friends of the released/jailed bloggers and journalists; international media outlets; net-citizens and international human-rights and freedom of expression watchdogs who demand the government to release all Ethiopian prisoners of conscience. Members of the net-citizens continue to include the hash-tag #FreeZone9Bloggers in their social media posts and recommended others to do the same until everybody is free.

FYI, the hash #FreeZone9Bloggers is still in play, until all are out. Don't forget to use it while tweeting about today's releases.

— Amanuel  Tesfaye (@ethio_style) July 8, 2015

As result, #FreeZone9Bloggers, continued to be trending and has become the second largest hash-tag mentioned on twitter, at least here in Sweden.

In an exclusive with VOA Amharic, the released bloggers and journalists as well as father/attorney of columnist Reeyot Alemu expressed their mixed and shocking feelings towards the abrupt government's action. Zelalem Kibret a.k.a Zola said he has this survivor's guilt for being released because his four colleagues who were accused with the same charges still remain behind bars. A pro-government Facebooker replied to him in a cruel manner. 

“nobody is holding you back to go back [to the prison]. The food, the drinks and the rent are free. It's better for you there especially at this time when life is very expensive in the country.”

Meanwhile aigaforum, an Ethiopian diaspora pro-government media in the US made a complaint against CPJ (Committee to Protect Journalists) for taking sides with the groups which it alleges are terrorists not journalists.

Well, others are urging Mr. Obama to visit Ethiopia as often as possible so that all Ethiopian prisoners of conscience could be released.

"ፕሬዝደንት ኦባማ - እባክህ ኢትዮጵያ ተመላለስና እስርቤቱን ባዶ አርግልን" :-)

— Fisseha Tegegn (@total_433) July 8, 2015

According CPJ's latest reports, Ethiopia ranks the second journalists' jailer in Africa after to Eritrea and is listed among the top ten censored countries in the world. 
Our message, nobody is free until everybody is free! Free Eskinder Nega, Woubshet Taye, Abel Wabela, Befqadu Hailu, Atenaf Berhane, Andualem Aragae, Zelalem Werqalemahu and thousands Ethiopian prisoners of conscience who are being incarcerated for exercising their constitutional and birth-rights.  

 

እውነቱ ይውጣ! (ፕ/ር መስፍን ወልደ ማርያም)

ለመሆኑ ሊቃነ ጳጳሳት፣ ጳጳሳት፣ መነኮሳት፣ ቀሳውስት — ሼሆች፣ ሽማግሌዎች በአገሩ የለንም?
መስፍን ወልደ ማርያም
ሴቶችን በወንዶች ፊት፣ ወንዶችን በሴቶች ፊት ልብስ እያስወለቁ የአካላቸውን ክፍሎች ሁሉ ለማየት የሚያስችል አንቅስቃሴ አንዲሠሩ ማስገደድ በሽተኞችን ያስደስታል፤ የምርመራ ዘዴ ግን አይደለም፤ ውርደት እንዲሰማቸው ከሆነ በወራዶች ሰዎች ፊት የምን መዋረድ አለ? ወራዶች እነሱ ደረጃ ላይ ከእነሱ ጋር ያስተካክላሉ አንጂ አያዋርዱም፤ በሌላ አነጋገር ወራዶች አያዋርዱም፤ ወራዶቹ ደንቆሮዎችም ሆነው ነው እንጂ ልብስ የሚያስወልቁ እነሱ ብቻ አይደሉም፤ ሀኪሞችም ልብስ አስወልቀው፣ አጋድመው በጣታቸውም ሆነ በመሣሪያ የፈለጉትን የአካል ክፍል አንደፈለጉ ያደርጉታል፤ ወራዶቹና ደንቆሮዎቹ ከሚያደርጉት የሀኪሞቹ የሚለየው ሀኪሞቹ ሰዎችን ለማዳን ሲሉ ነው፤ ወራዶቹና ደንቆሮዎቹ ግን የራሳቸውን ሱስ ለማርካት፣ የራሳቸውን ህመም ለማስታገስ ነው፤ ወራዶቹንና ደንቆሮዎቹን ከመለዮአቸው አራቁቻቸዋለሁ! ከነውር በቃላት ወደነውር በተግባር፣ ያውም በመሥሪያ ቤት! ዱሮ ዱሮ ከቀዳማዊ ኃይለ ሥላሴ ቲያትር ፊት ለፊት የአንድ ኢጣልያዊ ቡና ቤት ነበር፤ እዚያ ውጭ ተቀምጠን ቡና ስንጠጣ አንዲት ውብ ሴት ወደጸጉር መሥሪያው ቤት ስትመጣ የሁላችንም ዓይኖች እየዘለሉ እስዋ ላይ ዐረፉ፤ ከሦስታችን አንዱ ስለሴትዮዋ የወሲብ ችሎታ በዝርዝር መናገር ሲጀምር ሁለታችን ተያየንና አፈርን፤ ጨዋታው የጣመለት መስሎት ሲቀጥል የሕግ ባለሙያ የሆነ ጓደኛዬ አቋረጠውና ‹‹ስማ! ይህን ጊዜ እናትህ

Jailed #FreeZone9Bloggers demands John Kerry to Stop Supporting Ethiopia

Natnael Feleke has been imprisoned for a year without trial. In a letter smuggled out of jail, he asks the US secretary of state to stop supporting the regime
Dear John Kerry,
I first came to know about you back in 2004, during the US presidential election, when you were running for office against George Bush. At just 17 years old I knew little about US politics – or politics in general – but I discussed the campaigns with my schoolmates.
A year later, the historic 2005 Ethiopian national election took place. This election differed from previous votes in that the lead up to it was mostly democratic. This left many Ethiopians hoping they would witness the first elected change of government in the country’s history. But it was not to be.
After the ruling Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front realised they couldn’t win the election without rigging the vote, the true face of the regime emerged.
After polling day, we saw civilian bloodshed, and the arrest of thousands – including journalists and opposition leaders.
I was only young then, but the election gave me my first

Evidence Against #FreeZone9Bloggers & Journalists Doesn’t Back Charges

By William Davison

(Bloomberg) -- Ethiopian prosecutors have failed to present evidence relating to charges that a group of bloggers and journalists support terrorism, a defense lawyer at the latest court hearing said.

Six members of the Zone 9 blogging group and three freelance journalists were charged in July at the Federal High Court in Ethiopia’s capital, Addis Ababa, for working with banned organizations such as the U.S.-based Ginbot 7, which the Horn of Africa nation categorizes as a terrorist group. A witness on Wednesday testified that police last year collected a political manifesto from a Health Ministry office, where one of the defendants worked, lawyer Ameha Mekonnen said.
“No witness is brought who has either direct or indirect knowledge of the material element of the charge,” Ameha said in an interview. “The witnesses are here to prove that there was no maltreatment or pressure when the search was conducted.”

The defendants are the latest government critics to be tried under Ethiopia’s 2009 anti-terrorism law, which the U.S. has said is being used to criminalize legitimate dissent.

Ethiopian officials reject the accusation.
The manifesto collected was for a “peaceful” political party led by the author Lencho Lata, a former head of the rebel Oromo Liberation Front, Ameha said. All of the other evidence filed to the court by prosecutors is of a similar public nature, he said. Prosecutors will get a final chance to present witnesses when the trial resumes on May 26, Ameha said.

Source: Nazret.com

Ethiopia's imprisoned #FreeZone9bloggers have not been forgotten : BBC

In April 2014 BBC Trending covered the arrest of six bloggers and three journalists in Ethiopia. The bloggers are part of a group known as Zone 9, and are well known for campaigning around censorship and human rights issues in Ethiopia. Ten months on from their arrest, the hashtag #FreeZone9Bloggers continues to be used in the country as the trials continue.

That's not typical - campaigning hashtags often tail off over time. This one is being kept alive by activists both inside and out of Ethiopia who are challenging the government's decision. The total number of tweets is still only in the tens of thousands, but that is enough to be noticed on the global map (Twitter does not produce an official trending topics list for Ethiopia).

Why are they so focussed on social media? It certainly isn't the best way to reach the Ethiopian people: the internet is estimated to reach just over 1% of the population there. But it does allow them to network with the global blogging fraternity and the international media. Recently a blog began in support of the nine prisoners, and to report on the hearings. A campaign video has also been released in which complaints are raised over the conditions of Kalinto prison and Kality prison, where the bloggers are being held.

These complaints include torture, unlawful interrogation tactics and poor living conditions. The Ethiopian Embassy in London told BBC Trending that allegations of torture and unlawful interrogation tactics are unfounded, and that they have taken a series of measures "in collaboration with stakeholders, including civil society, to improve the conditions of prisons". They say the nine individuals are charged with "undermining the constitutional order, inciting violence and advocating the use of force to overthrow the legitimate government." They are also accused of working with an organisation proscribed by the Ethiopian Parliament as a terrorist organisation. However, activists in support of the group maintain that Zone 9's actions were constitutional.

Blog by India Rakusen

Source: BBC

የዛሬ የቂሊንጦ አጭር ቆይታ አብርሃን መጠየቅ ከጀርባ ሰው ያስከትላል (ከኤልያስ ገብሩ ጎዳና )

‹‹ዕድሜያችንን መቼ ሰራንበት፣ ልደት ማክበርም ያስፈራኛል፡፡
እንኳን ተወለድክ ላላችሁኝ በሙሉ ከልብ አመሰግናለሁ››

ጦማሪ እና ጋዜጠኛ በፍቃዱ ኃይሉ

ከዛሬ ከሰዓት በኋላ ከወዳጄ አቤል አለማየሁ ጋር ወደ ቂሊንጦ እስር ቤት አምርተን ነበር፡፡ አካሄዳችን በዞን ሁለት የሚገኙትን አብርሃ ደስታን፣ ጦማሪ እና ጋዜጠኛ በፍቃዱ ኃይሉንና ጦማሪ አጥናፍ ብርሃንን ለመጠየቅ ነው፡፡

የቃሊቲ እና የቂሊንጦ ጸሐይ ከረር ያለች ብትሆንም በቦታው ደርሰን ወደፖሊሶች ለምዝገባ ተጠጋን፡፡ ጠያቂና ተጠያቂ መዝጋቢ የሆነችው ሴት ፖሊስ ‹‹ማንን ነው የምትጠይቀው?›› ብላ አቤልን ጠየቀችው፡፡ በፍቃዱን እና አጥናፍን መሆንኑ ነገራት፡፡ መዘገበችውና ሂድ አለችው፡፡ ‹‹አንተስ ማንን ነው?›› ስትል ጠየቀችኝ፤ ‹‹አብርሃ ደስታን›› አልኳት፡፡ ቀና ብላ አየችኝና ‹‹ቆይ፣ ቁጭ በል›› የሚል መልስ መለሰች፡፡ ሌሎች ሰዎችን መመዝገቧን ቀጠለች፡፡ ‹‹ሰዓት እየሄደ ነው፣ ችግር አለ ወይ?›› አልኳት፡፡ ‹‹አይ ችግር የለም›› ካለች ከተወሰኑ ደቂቃዎች በኋላ ሌላ መዝገብ አምጥታ ፓስፖርቴን መዘገበችው፡፡ (መታወቂያዬ አልታደሰም) ከመዘገበች በኋላም ሌላ የፎርም መሙያ አውጥጣ በድጋሚ መዘገበች፡፡ ይሄንን ስትመዘግብ እኔ እንዳይባት ስላልፈለገች

2014 Golden Pen of Freedom awarded to jailed Ethiopian journalist

Mr Nega was arrested on September 14, 2011 after publishing an article criticising his government’s use of the 2009 Anti-Terror Proclamation to jail and silence critics, including Ethiopian actor and activist Debebe Eshetu.  He was sentenced on 23 January 2012 and denounced as belonging to a terrorist organisation.

In making the award, the WAN-IFRA Board sent a message to the Ethiopian government that misusing

To My Son- By Eskinder Nega

I was awed once again by the modest, humble and thought provoking letter of Eskinder Nega, an award winning Ethiopian journalists who has been separated from his wife and son and being incarcerated at the notorious Kality prison for doing the job he loves most. What is even more surprising about Eskinder's letter is that his endurance and composure to write such master piece from the worst unlikely places in the world where chaos, trauma, demeaning and degrading treatment of the inmates are a norm. Here is what he penned in his own word. 

A Hero in Son's Eye   

The mistakes of my life. Ah! I could go on and on and on about them. (Warning, I am aiming for your sympathy.) There are the missed opportunities. (God is generous, I squandered them all, literally.) There are the wrong choices (Hey there is at least the adrenaline rush that comes with every wrong move.) There is the conceited self-absorption (Obviously more and more as I rush through middle age.) There is the lack of direction (Bitter to admit, but true.) There is the incapacitating self-doubt. (Question: are you teary-eyed or disgusted?)

But here is what my strategy is not:

Ethiopia's Zeway Prison the Equivalent of Siberia: Jailed Ethiopian Journalist

The following open letter is  from  award winning Ethiopian Journalist Woubushet Taye who has been sentenced to 14 years jail term with trumped up terrorism charges and being incarcerated at the notorious Zeway Prison. He penned the letter in Amharic ( Ethiopian official language ) for one of the few remaining critical Ethiopian newspapers called Ethio Mehdar. Article 19, the International Rights Watchdog, translated the Amharic version  of Woubshet's letter into English and published it on its website. As you go through it; Woubshet is still optimistic and has no grudges against his captors. His modesty and humbleness is beyond me considering the an imaginable horror he has to go through on daily basis. Here is the full English version of Woubshet's humble letter which should trigger an outrage from every human being around the globe against TPLF-led regime in Ethiopia.   

ሰው ለሆኑ ሰዎች በሙሉ! በጋዜጠኛ ውብሸት ታዬ፤ ከዝዋይ ማረሚያ ቤት

የነገሮች ሁሉ መድረሻ እስር ቤቶች እየሆኑ መጥተዋል፡፡
‹‹ይህንን ስለመሳሰሉ ጉዳዮች መወያየት ክልክል ነው፡፡›› በማለት በተንጎላጀጀ ድምፅ ጠባቂው ተናገረ፡፡ ቀጠል አደረገናም ‹‹መነጋገር የምትችሉት ስለቤተሰብ ጉዳዮች ብቻ ነው›› በማለት ተናገረ፡፡ ይህን ከላይ ያለውን ሐሳብ የሚመለከት ማንኛውም አንባቢ፣ ጉዳይ የተፈፀመው እዚህችው እማማ ኢትዮጵያ ሰማይ ስር ባሉ አጃኢበኛ እስር ቤቶች፣ ቤተሰብ መጠየቂያው እንደሆነ መጣራቱ አይቀርም፡፡

ይሁንና በመግቢያው ላይ ያለው ጽሑፍ ተቀንጭቦ የተወሰደ ‹እናት› ከተሰኘውና እ.ኤ.አ. በ1906 ከታተመው የስመ ጥሩው ሩስያዊ ደራሲ ማክሲም ጎርኪይ ታሪካዊ ልቦለድ ገፅ 102 ላይ ነው፡፡ የዛሬ 108 ዓመት አካባቢ ማለት ነው፡፡ አቤት ርቀቱ!... ይህ ርቀት ግን ለእኛ ምንም ማለት ያልሆነ ይመስላል፤ ለምን? ቢሉ ዛሬም ይህንንና ይህን የመሳሰለውን አስፍተን እየሠራን እንገኛለን፡፡ እንዲያውም በአንዳንድ ሁኔታዎች እየተጓዝን ያለነው የቁልቁለት ሩጫ በእጅጉ አሳሳቢ ሆኖ ይገኛል፡፡

የነገሮች ሁሉ መድረሻ እስር ቤቶች እየሆኑ መጥተዋል፡፡

በታማሚዎች መነገድ ያተርፋል!? ጋዜጠኛ ውብሸት ታዬ (ከማረሚያ ቤት)

የጉዳዩ ባለቤት ባልሰራው ወንጀል 14 ዓመት ከተፈረደበት በኋላ በኩላሊት ህመም በመሰቃየት ላይ የሚገኘው ወገናችን ጋዜጠኛ ውብሸት ታዬ ሲሆን ህክምና እንዳያገኝ በቃሊቲ እስርቤት የህክምና ሃላፊዎች ወደው ይሁን ተገደው እየተፈጸመ ያለው የማሰቃያ ጨካኝ  ድርጊት እጅግ ህሊናን የሚነካ እና በማንኛውም መለኪያ እንኳን ዘጠና ሚሊዮን ህዝብ አስተዳድራለሁ ከሚል መንግስት ተብዪ ይቅር እና ከአንድ ተራ  የመንደር ዱርዬ የማይጠበቅ  ነው።  ጽሁፉን ያገኘሁት ከሌላዋ ኢትዮጵያዊ ዓምደኛ ታሳሪ ማለትም ርዕዮት ዓለሙ የፍቅር ጓደኛ ስለሺ ሃጎስ ሲሆን ላነበባችሁት እንደገና ደግማችሁ እንድታነቡት፡ ላላነበባችሁት ደግሞ የህውሃት መራሹ ጨካኝ መንግስት ምን ያህል ህገመንግስታዊም ሆነ ኢትዮጵያ የፈረመቻቸውን ዓለምዓቀፍ የሰብዓዊ እና ግለሰባዊ መብቶችን የሚያስከብሩ ድንጋጌዎችን
በመጣስ የዜጎችን መብት ከእለት ወደ እለት እየሸራረፈ በጥልቀት እንዳታዩት ይረዳችኋል ብዬ አምናለሁ። በጣም የሚገርመው ግን ውብሸት ይሄ ሁሉ ዘግናኝ ግፍ በህግ ጠለላ እያለ ቢፈጸምበትም በውስጡ በቀል ወይም ጥላቻ የለም። ዛሬም የሚሰብከው ፍቅርንና መቻቻል ነው። 

‹‹ጸሐይ በሞቀው-----›› የፍርድ ሂደት ራሴን ለመከላከል አቅርቤው ከነበረው የተከሳሽ የመከላከያ ቃል በኋላ ዳግም ድምጼን ለማሰማት የተመለስኩበት አጋጣሚ ለወራት ሲያሰቃየኝ ለቆየው የኩላሊት ሕመሜ የቃሊቲ ማረሚያ ቤት ‹‹የጤና ባለሞያዎች ››ምንም ሕክምና ሊሰጡኝ እንደማይችሉ በመግለጽ በተራቸው የሕክምና ፋይሌን መዝጋታቸው ቅር ያሰኘኛል፡፡ጥልቅ ፍቅር እና ክብር ላለኝ ለኢትዮጵያ ሕዝብ ከመልካም ዜና ጋር ብወጣ እንዴት ደስ ባለኝ ነበር፡፡ግን አልሆነማ!ጉዳዮን የበለጠ ግልጽ ለማድረግ ፣በተደረገልኝ የኩላሊት የአልትራ-ሳውንድ ምርመራ ፣በተለይ በግራ ኩላሊቴ ላይ በአሳሳቢ ሁኔታ ፣እጅግ የተከማቸ አሸዋ መኖሩ ተረጋግጧል፡፡በግራም በቀኝም ያሉ ወገኖች ይህን በማንኛውም ጊዜ መመልከት ይችላሉ፡፡(ለጠላትም ለወዳጅም አላልኩም፣ምክንያቱም በግራ እና በቀኝ በተሰለፉት ውድ ኢትዮጵያዊያን መካከል እየከረረ የመጣው የሐሳብ እና የመስመር ልዮነት እንጂ፣ጠብታ የጠላትነት መሰረት እንደሌለው ታሪክ እና እውነት ይመሰክሩታልና፡፡)ለማንኛውም የቃሊቲዎቹ ሐኪሞች ስቃዬ ሊሰማቸው አልቻለም ወይም አልፈለጉም ፡፡ከቶ ለምን ይሆን!?ይህንን ከአስደማሚ የሰቆቃ ድራማ ፣ከጀርባ ሆኖ እየመራ ያለው ባለ ረዥም እጅ ማን ይሆን?ለመሆኑስ አማራጭ በሌላቸው ታማሚዎች ጤንነት መነገድስ ስንት ያተርፋል?ምን ይሉት እርካታንስ ያጎናጽፋል?ከእኛ ስር የበቀለው የነገይቱ ኢትዮጵያችን ተረካቢ ትውልድስ ይህን አስጸያፊ ድርጊት እንዴት ይመለከተዋል ትላላችሁ ?ሁላችንንም ቸር እና ፍጹም የሆነው እግዚአብሄር ይርዳን፡፡በተለይ እኔ ባለሁበት የእስር እና የጤንነት ሁኔታ ላይ የሚገለጽ ሐሳብ ፣ስሜታዊነት ሊንጸባረቅበት ቢችል እንኳ ትረዱኛላችሁ ብዬ አምናለሁ፡፡ሌሎችን ለመውቀስም የጥላቻ ስሜትንም ለመግለጽ ተደርጎ እንዳይወሰድብኝም በትሕትና እጠይቃለሁ፡፡ክብር እና ፍቅር የሚገባችሁ ውድ ኢትዮጵያዊያን በግሌ የእስር ቆይታዬ በነፍሴ ውስጥ እንደውቅያኖስ የጠለቀ ፍቅር እና የእናንተን አጋርነት በማይነጥፍ አሳቢነት አገኘሁበት እንጂ ጥላቻን አልተማርኩበትም፡፡ ደግሞም እኛ ኢትዮጵያዊያን ነን፡፡ የታሪክ ፣የእምነት፣የወግና የባህል በአጠቃላይም የማንነት ጽኑ መሰረት አለን፡፡ትናንት የመጣን ነገ የምንሄድ አይደለንም ፣እንኖራለን ቢያንስ ትውልድ ይኖራል፡፡ታዲያ እንዴት ሕክምና በመንፈግ ፣ከቤተሰብ አርቆ በማሰር (የሁለትዮሽ እንግልት ለመፍጠር በማሰብ)ይህንን ማንነት እንጣው?አይሆንም!እግዚአብሄር ኢትዮጵያን ይባርክአክባሪ ወንድማችሁ ውብሸት ታዬ

 ምንጭ፡ ስለሺ ሃጎስ ፌስቡክ ግድግዳ

Jailed Ethiopian Dissident Blogger Eskinder Nega Honored Once Again

Eskinder Nega, an Ethiopian publisher, journalist and blogger who is serving an 18-year jail sentence under anti-terror legislation, has been awarded the 2014 Golden Pen of Freedom, the annual press freedom prize of the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA).

Mr Nega was arrested on September 14, 2011 after publishing an article criticising his government’s use of the 2009 Anti-Terror Proclamation to jail and silence critics, including Ethiopian actor and activist Debebe Eshetu.  He was sentenced on 23 January 2012 and denounced as belonging to a terrorist organization.

In making the award, the WAN-IFRA Board sent a message to the Ethiopian government that misusing anti-terror legislation to jail journalists and those critical of his government is unwarranted and against international protocols, including the Vienna Declaration on Terrorism, Media and the Law.

“This award recognizes the courage of Eskinder Nega to speak out despite the risks that saw him