The International Federation of
Journalists (IFJ) on Tuesday severely criticised authorities in Ethiopia
following the decision by a court to grant police nearly one more month to
conduct investigations against the journalists and bloggers detained in the country
last month. Three journalists and six bloggers were arrested on 25 and 26 April
by police using an arrest warrant from a public prosecutor in Addis Ababa, the
country’s capital city. The police on May 19 said that while the investigations
continue the three journalists and six bloggers will remain in prison. “This is
a clear human right violation,” said Gabriel Baglo, IFJ Africa Director. “These
journalists and bloggers have not been charged yet and must be released
immediately. The court is clearly hesitating because there are no strong charges
against our colleagues” The IFJ criticism comes a few weeks after it wrote an
open letter to U.S. Secretary of State, John Kerry, during his visit to the
country to ask him to raise his concerns about the ordeal of the imprisoned
journalists when he met with Ethiopian Prime Minister, Hailemariam Desalegn.
According to media reports, Kerry subsequently raised the arrests during
meetings with the Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, Tedros Adhanom, on May
1. Following the meeting the IFJ welcomed Kerry’s action, but the Ethiopian
court has now taken the decision to extend their detention. The journalists who
have been arrested are Tesfalem Weldeyest, who writes independent commentary on
political issues for Ethiopia’s Addis Standard magazine and Addis Fortune
newspaper, Asmamaw Hailegiorgis, senior editor at an influential Amharic weekly
magazine Addis Guday, and Edom Kassaye, who previously worked at state daily
Addis Zemen Newspaper and is an active member of the Ethiopian Environmental
Journalists Association (EEJA). The bloggers are reportedly members of the Zone
9 group, which is known to be very critical of government policy. They have a
strong following on social media. They are: Atnaf Berahane, Befeqadu Hailu,
Mahlet Fantahun, Natnael Feleke, Abel Wabela and Zelalem Kiberet. They are
accused of using social media to create instability in the country and
collaborating with international human rights organisations. According to
independent news reports, Ethiopian police said on Saturday, May 17, that the
detainees were to be charged with the country’s anti-terrorism proclamation, No
652, published on 28 August 2009, which violates international standards on
freedom of expression. The IFJ believes that this proclamation directly threatens
freedom of expression and human rights in the country which is Africa’s second
worst jailer of journalists and media professionals. Independent sources have
reported that at least three of the detainees have complained of severe torture
and long interrogations, while they have only seen the their lawyers twice
since their arrests. "Holding detainees without charge for a prolonged
period is a new trend that is becoming routine and systematic,” said Baglo. “It
is another severe blow to human rights in Ethiopia and the international
community must stand up and fight against it.” Source ( IFJ)
Friday, May 23, 2014
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