Meskerem Abera, founder of Ethio Nikat Media, was arrested on April 9, 2023, in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa. She was charged with terrorism in June 2023. Five of the six Ethiopian journalists in CPJ’s 2024 prison census are facing this charge, for which they could face the death penalty if convicted, after reporting on conflict in the Amhara region. Since November 2024, Meskerem has been serving a 16-month sentence for incitement to violence in an unrelated, earlier case.
In 2022, Meskerem founded Ethio Nikat Media, a YouTube-based news channel, while also teaching at Hawassa Teachers College in southern Ethiopia, her husband Fitsum Gebremichael told CPJ. Meskerem was the chief editor and a commentator for the news outlet, which had over 48,000 subscribers as of late 2024. No new videos have been published on the channel since her detention, according to CPJ's review.
Federal police officers arrested Meskerem at her home, Fitsum and her lawyer Henok Aklilu told CPJ. Meskerem was among at least eight journalists and media workers arrested in April 2023 over allegations that included inciting violence. Five were later released.
The arrests followed the government’s April 6 decision to integrate regional militia into the federal army, which triggered protests. The Amhara Regional Special Forces refused to surrender their weapons and the Fano militia took up arms against federal forces — their former allies in a civil war in northern Ethiopia that ended with a peace deal in 2022. The Amhara conflict was ongoing as of late 2024.
On June 7, 2023, the federal Ministry of Justice filed charges against Meskerem and 50 others, including three other journalists in CPJ’s 2024 prison census — Genet Asmamaw, Dawit Begashaw, and Gobeze Sisay — according to a charge sheet reviewed by CPJ.
The charge sheet accused the four journalists of violating the Proclamation on Prevention and Suppression of Terrorism, which stipulates a potential death penalty for those found guilty of “terrorizing or spreading fear among the public” … “with the intention of advancing political, religious or ideological causes.”
Prosecutors said that Meskerem was involved in forming and served as the deputy coordinator of the Amhara Fano Unity Council, which they described as a “clandestine organization, which the defendants used to do their terrorist activities” by bringing together militant groups, including the Fano militia. They said she led the council’s propaganda efforts, organized, and trained youth in Amhara to take up arms against the government, and connected political groups opposed to the government's treatment of the Amhara people.
The prosecutors also accused Meskerem of training students to form an intelligence network, seeking to dismantle federal and state constitutions, and fundraising for a “terrorist operation.” As part of their evidence, the prosecution referred to 51 pages of text messages obtained from Meskerem’s cell phone, which Henok said had not been tabled in court or made available to the defense by late 2024.
On July 19, 2023, Meskerem and her co-defendants were denied bail, according to Henok, and Meskerem was transferred to the capital’s Kaliti federal maximum security prison the following day.
In October and November 2023, the courts rejected the defendants’ application for their case to be dismissed on the grounds that it was politically motivated, Henok said.
From December 2023 to March 2024, the case was suspended pending a Supreme Court ruling on whether some defendants could be tried in absentia, Henok said. It ruled in favor.
In May, the case was suspended again pending a Supreme Court ruling on a preliminary objection by the defense, demanding that the charge sheet be amended to include specific facts, including details on the damage and violent incidents that the defendants were alleged to have committed or incited, Henok said.
On November 12, the prosecution filed an amended charge sheet naming the people allegedly affected by the incidents, without detailing those incidents. On November 14, Meskerem appeared before the federal court alongside other co-defendants and pleaded not guilty. The court adjourned the trial to mid-December when prosecution witnesses were expected to begin testifying.
Meskerem was previously detained in May 2022 for 23 days and in December 2022 for three weeks on allegations of inciting violence.
In March 2024, the December 2022 case was revived and Meskerem was charged with incitement to violence through her outlet and contravention of the Computer Crime Proclamation, according to the charge sheet, reviewed by CPJ.
The prosecutor alleged that Meskerem portrayed the federal government as biased against the Amhara and that she accused federal officials of using an ethnic Amhara general to destroy the Amhara people in two May 2022 videos.
On November 1, the court found Meskerem guilty, rejecting her defense that she had a right to freedom of expression. On November 25, she was sentenced to one year and four months imprisonment.
Ethiopia’s government spokesperson Legesse Tulu did not answer CPJ's calls or text messages in late 2024. Emails requesting comment from Ethiopia's ministry of justice and its federal Government Communication Service were also unanswered.