PEN International protests the arrest and detention of two more journalists under Ethiopia’s sweeping anti-terrorist legislation. Sileshi Hagos and Eskinder Nega were arrested on September 9 and 14, 2011, respectively, accused of involvement with the banned political party Ginbot 7. They appeared before a court on September 15 and were remanded in custody for 28 days. There are concerns that Nega has been ill-treated in detention. Their arrest follows that of four other journalists, two Ethiopian and two Swedish, all imprisoned on terrorism charges since June this year. PEN fears that the journalists are being targeted for their critical reporting in violation of their right to freedom of expression. It calls on the Ethiopian authorities to drop the charges and release them, and in the meantime ensure that they are given immediate access to the medical treatment they require.

Background Information

The following is a press release issued by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ):
 
New York, September 16, 2011--Authorities in Ethiopia arrested two independent journalists this week on accusations of involvement in a terrorism plot, bringing the total number of journalists imprisoned since June under the country's far-reaching antiterrorism legislation to six, CPJ research shows.
 
On September 9, Ethiopian security forces picked up journalist Sileshi Hagos at his home, local journalists told CPJ. A contributor to the Addis Ababa-based radio station 96.3 FM, Hagos was the former managing director of the now-defunct political monthly magazine Change, which used to cover the banned political group Ginbot 7 before it was designated a terrorist organization. He is also the fiancé of journalist Reeyot Alemu, who has been imprisoned under terrorism charges since July, according to CPJ research. Authorities interrogated Hagos and confiscated his laptop shortly after they arrested Alemu, local journalists said.
 
On Wednesday afternoon, security forces also picked up journalist and dissident blogger Eskinder Nega, local journalists told CPJ, adding that they suspected some of Nega's latest writings, including a column criticizing the government's arrest of the famed Ethiopian actor Debebe Eshetu on terrorism charges, triggered his arrest.
 
"In the past four months, authorities have used sweeping terrorism laws to detain six independent journalists in an attempt to wipe out the few critical voices left in the country," said CPJ East Africa Consultant Tom Rhodes. "If the authorities have credible evidence against any of these journalists, let them present it publicly. Otherwise, they must release them."
 
Shortly after Hagos and Nega were arrested, the ruling Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front-controlled state television portrayed them as "spies for foreign forces" and accused them of harboring links with Ginbot 7. In an interview with Agence France-Presse, government spokesman Shimelis Kemal accused the journalists, and the activists detained with them, of plotting "a series of terrorist acts that would likely wreak havoc."
 
Hagos and Nega were presented in court on Thursday and remanded into police custody until October 12 to allow the police to carry out their investigations, local journalists told CPJ. Police specifically forbade visitors in the courtroom when Nega was in court, local journalists told CPJ.

Nega and his wife, Fasil, were imprisoned for 17 months on antistate charges for their critical coverage of the brutal government repression of peaceful protests following the disputed 2005 elections, according to CPJ research. Both were eventually acquitted and released in April 2007, but authorities have since blocked them from restarting new newspapers.

Ethiopia’s anti-terrorism law, which criminalizes any reporting deemed to "encourage" or "provide moral support" to groups and causes the government considers to be "terrorist," has been widely criticized as being vaguely worded and catch-all. It carries sentences of up to 20 years in prison.

 

 


 

Write A Letter

  • Protesting the arrest of journalists Sileshi Hagos and Eskinder Nega on September 9 and 14, 2011, respectively, and their detention under anti-terrorist legislation;
  • Calling on the Ethiopian authorities to ensure that the journalists are not subjected to torture or other ill-treatment;
  • Urging the authorities to grant them access to lawyers and their families;
  • Expressing concern that the journalists have been arrested and detained purely in relation to their peaceful journalistic activity, in violation of the right to freedom of expression protected under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights;
  • Urging the authorities to release Hagos and Nega unless there is a credible basis for charging them promptly and trying them in accordance with international standards for a fair trial.

Send Your Letter To

Prime Minister
Meles Zenawi
P.O. Box 1031
Addis Ababa
Ethiopia
Fax: +251 155 20 30
Salutation: Dear Prime Minister

Minister of Justice
Berhanu Hailu
Ministry of Justice
P.O. Box 1370
Addis Ababa
Ethiopia
Fax: +251 11 551 7775/ 7755
Email: [email protected], [email protected]
Salutation: Dear Minister

Federal Police Commissionner
Gebeyehu Workineh
P.O. Box 5718
Addis Ababa
Ethiopia
Fax: +251 551 12 13

Please copy appeals to the diplomatic representative for Ethiopia in your country if possible.

Please send appeals immediately. Contact PEN if sending appeals after October 31, 2011: ftw [at] pen.org