The Ethiopian Supreme Court on April 6, 2017, levied criminal charges against two Zone 9 bloggers, Atnaf Berhane and Natnail Feleke, three years after they were first arrested in April 2014. They were later acquitted of terrorism charges and released in October 2015. A third blogger, Befekadu Hailu, is also awaiting trial on criminal charges after being acquitted of terrorism in March 2017. Atnaf, Natnail, and Befekadu belonged to a collective known as the Zone 9 bloggers, and were arrested along with seven other members of the group, all of whom have been acquitted.
CASE HISTORY
On February 14, 2018, Ethiopian prosecutors drop incitement charges against two Zone 9 bloggers, Befekadu Hailu and Natnail Feleke. The charges were dropped the same week that authorities released other jailed journalists, including Eskinder Nega. Prosecutors announce that they plan to drop the incitement charge on another Zone 9 blogger, Atnafu Berhane, but due to a paperwork error the process was delayed. A judge stated that the case against Berhane would continue if prosecutors fail to present the updated paperwork to the court on February 24. Another Zone 9 blogger and journalist, Elias Gebru, is still facing a charge of incitement. Gebru is to be due in court on April 3, 2018.