In Ethiopia, terrorism charges against five journalists

In Ethiopia, terrorism charges against
five journalists

07 September, 2011 | CPJ
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Ethiopia filed terrorism charges on Tuesday against four
independent journalists detained in the country since June and
July, along with the editor of a U.S.-based news forum critical of
the Addis Ababa government, according to local sources and
news reports.

"We condemn Ethiopia's repeated use of sweeping terrorism laws
to censor independent reporting," said CPJ Africa Advocacy
Coordinator Mohamed Keita. "The government may not like
reporters talking to groups it deems to be terrorist organizations,
but that's what journalists do. Anything less would just make them
mouthpieces. The authorities must drop these ridiculous charges
immediately and release our colleagues."

Defense lawyers for Woubshet Taye, deputy editor of leading
independent weekly Awramba Times, and Reeyot Alemu, a
columnist with weekly Feteh, told CPJ today that the journalists
appeared before Ethiopia's High Court on Tuesday and were
formally charged under the country's far-reaching antiterrorism
law. The lawyers said they do not have details about the charges
because they were not notified about Tuesday's hearing and were
not present. Taye and Alemu have been in detention since arrest in
June on vague accusations of involvement in a terrorism plot.

Terrorism charges were also filed in absentia against Elias Kifle,
editor of the U.S.-based anti-government forum Ethiopian
Review, according to local sources.

Also charged with terrorism on Tuesday were Swedish journalists
Johan Persson and Martin Schibbye who were arrested in eastern
Ethiopia in July while reporting on the activities of armed
separatists of the Ogaden National Liberation Front, according to
news reports. In an email to CPJ, Swedish Foreign Ministry
spokesman Anders Jörle confirmed the reports and said the
journalists, contributors to the Sweden-based photo agency
Kontinent, did not have their lawyers present when they were
charged with "terrorism and violation on migration laws."

In an interview with Bloomberg today, Ethiopian government
spokesman Shimelis Kemal said the Swedish journalists "entered
the country with a bunch of terrorists," a reference to the
government's June designation of the ONLF as a terrorist entity.
Referencing a video posted on the pro-government Ogaden
website Cakaara News in July, which purports to show Persson
handling an assault rifle, Kemal added: "They have even taken
weapons training." Agence France-Presse reported that a
government prosecutor showed footage of the video during
Tuesday's hearing.

The footage appears to have been shot by the journalists
themselves, although its authenticity has not been independently
confirmed. The footage also shows the journalists doing routine
work such as adjusting their camera equipment, reviewing maps,
taking photos, and interviewing people in refugee camps. Separate
footage, apparently shot by authorities, shows the journalists, in
bandages, speaking under duress after their capture. "We came to
the Ogaden region to do interviews with the ONLF," Schibbye is
heard saying.

The Ethiopian government has blocked independent news media
access to the Somali-speaking Ogaden region, where the ONLF
has been waging a low-level insurgency since 1984, according to
CPJ research. U.S. journalist Heather Murdock was expelled in
2010 while reporting near the Ogaden, while a crew from The
New York Times was expelled in 2007 while reporting in the
region.

Courtesy