MESFIN NEGASH

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Eskinder Nega

Ethiopian security forces arrested Eskinder Nega, a prominent online columnist, former publisher, and editor of now-shuttered newspapers, on vague accusations of involvement in a terrorism plot. The arrest came five days after Eskinder published a column in the U.S.-based news website EthioMedia that criticized the government for misusing the country’s sweeping anti-terrorism law to jail…

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From left: Eskinder, Abebe Gellaw, Mesfin, Abiye, Fasil, and Abebe Belew.

Ethiopia sentences Eskinder, 5 others on terror charges

Nairobi, July 13, 2012–An Ethiopian court today handed down heavy prison sentences to six journalists convicted on vague terrorism charges, local journalists and news reports said. Award-winning blogger Eskinder Nega got an 18-year term; the others live in exile and were sentenced in absentia.

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From left: Eskinder, Abebe Gellaw, Mesfin, Abiye, Fasil, and Abebe Belew.

Eskinder Nega, 5 exiled journalists convicted of terrorism

Nairobi, June 27, 2012–Today’s conviction of six Ethiopian journalists on vague terrorism charges is an affront to the rule of law and the constitution in the Horn of Africa country, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. At least 11 journalists have been charged with terrorism since November 2011, according to CPJ research.

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From left: Nega, Gellaw, Negash, Teklemariam, Yenealem, and Belew. (CPJ)

Judge confirms charges against Ethiopian dissident blogger

New York, January 25, 2012–Jailed Ethiopian dissident blogger Eskinder Nega will stand trial in March for all of the terrorism accusations initially advanced by prosecutors, a federal high court judge ruled yesterday, local sources said. If convicted on all charges, he could face the death penalty. 

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From left: Nega, Gellaw, Negash, Teklemariam, Yenealem, and Belew. (CPJ)

Ethiopia charges six journalists with terrorism

New York, November 11, 2011–A judge in Ethiopia’s federal high court charged six journalists with terrorism on Thursday under the country’s antiterrorism law, bringing the number of journalists charged under the statute since June to 10, CPJ research found. 

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Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi's ruling party has designated five groups as terrorist entities. (AFP)

In Ethiopia, anti-terrorism law chills reporting on security

How can an Ethiopian reporter cover the activities of Ethiopia’s leading opposition figure, Berhanu Nega, or an attack by the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) rebels without risking prosecution and a 20-year prison sentence? Such questions have haunted Ethiopian journalists since a far-reaching anti-terrorism law came into effect in 2009. The law criminalizes any reporting…

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Attacks on the Press 2010: Internet Analysis

Exposing the Internet’s shadowy assailants by Danny O’Brien For the past decade, those who used the Internet to report the news might have assumed that the technological edge was in their favor. But online journalists now face more than just the standard risks to those working in dangerous conditions. They find themselves victims of new…

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Sandhya Eknelygoda and her two sons. (CPJ/Bob Dietz)

Journalists in Exile 2010

An exodus from Iran, East Africa At least 85 journalists fled their home countries in the past year in the face of attacks, threats, and possible imprisonment. High exile rates are seen in Iran and in the East African nations of Somalia and Ethiopia. A CPJ Special Report by María Salazar-Ferro

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Attacks on the Press in 2008: Ethiopia

The small vanguard of independent media that emerged from a brutal 2005 crackdown struggled in the face of continuing government harassment. Although authorities issued licenses allowing a handful of independent political newspapers to operate, they continued to use imprisonment, threats, and legal and administrative restrictions to suppress coverage of sensitive issues.

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Editor convicted over misidentification

New York, November 3, 2008–An Ethiopian Federal High Court judge convicted an editor today on criminal charges of “inciting the public through false rumors” over a reporting mistake, local journalists told CPJ.

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