Ethiopia Supreme Court says two Zone 9 bloggers should face incitement charges
April 6, 2017 12:08 PM ET
New York, April 6, 2017--Ethiopia's Supreme Court today ruled that two bloggers from the Zone 9 collective, previously acquitted of terrorism charges, should be tried instead on charges of inciting violence through their writing. If convicted of the charge,...
Ethiopian newspaper editor, bloggers caught in worsening crackdown
November 16, 2016 11:54 PM ET
Nairobi, November 17, 2016--Ethiopia should immediately release all journalists detained amid an intensifying crackdown on the media, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. In recent weeks, Ethiopian authorities have jailed a newspaper editor and detained two members of...
Ethiopia arrests second journalist in a week, summons Zone 9 bloggers
December 27, 2015 11:21 AM ET
Nairobi, December 27, 2015--The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on authorities in Ethiopia to release the editor-in-chief of Negere Ethiopia online newspaper, Getachew Shiferaw, who was arrested on Friday, according to news reports....
In Ethiopia, Zone 9 bloggers acquitted of terrorism charges
October 16, 2015 9:46 AM ET
Nairobi, October 16, 2015--The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes the acquittal by an Ethiopian court today of four Zone 9 bloggers charged with terrorism. Abel Wabella, Atnaf Berhane, and Natnail Feleke, jailed since April 2014, are scheduled to be released...
Ethiopia releases five journalists, drops all charges against them
July 8, 2015 4:39 PM ET
Nairobi, July 8, 2015--The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes the release from prison today of two bloggers affiliated with the independent Ethiopian collective Zone 9 and three other journalists. All charges have been dropped against them, according to exiled Ethiopian...
Conflating terrorism and journalism in Ethiopia
April 27, 2015 11:01 AM ET
At the Lideta courthouse in Ethiopia's capital city, Addis Ababa, stands a statue of a blindfolded woman holding a set of scales in her outstretched hand--a universal symbol of justice, here cast in metal of pinkish gold and wearing...
One year after arrest Zone 9 bloggers remain imprisoned as trial drags on
April 23, 2015 10:29 AM ET
It will be one year this weekend since six bloggers were arrested in Addis Ababa, just days after the group announced on Facebook that their Zone 9 blog would resume publishing after seven months of inactivity. As the anniversary of...
CPJ calls on Ethiopian government to release imprisoned journalists
July 24, 2014 4:40 PM ET
CPJ is among a group of more than 40 regional and international press freedom and civil society organizations that have signed a joint letter to Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn expressing concern over the recent imprisonment of Ethiopian journalists under...
Ethiopian authorities charge nine journalists with terrorism
July 17, 2014 4:12 PM ET
Nairobi, July 17, 2014--An Ethiopian court charged nine Ethiopian journalists arrested in April with inciting violence and terrorism, according to local journalists and news reports. The nine arrested include six bloggers from an independent collective called Zone 9, which publishes...
CPJ condemns closed court hearings for nine Ethiopian journalists
July 14, 2014 5:18 PM ET
Nairobi, July 14, 2014--The Ethiopian government should end its politicized prosecution of nine Ethiopian journalists arrested in April. The journalists and their lawyers were shut out of court room hearings in recent days....