Ethiopian journalist jailed for 18 years - Africa - Al Jazeera English

Eskinder Nga was convicted of working with the Ginbot 7 group, considered terrorists in Ethiopian law [Al Jazeera]

An Ethiopian court has jailed a journalist for 18 years for "terrorism" and 23 other reporters and activists for between eight years and life, after a trial condemned by rights groups. Journalist Eskinder Nga was jailed for 18 years, while opposition member Andualem Arage got a life sentence as both men were found guilty of "participation in a terrorist organisation" and "planning...(a) terrorist act", Judge Hussein Yimer said on Friday. Ethiopia, a major recipient of Western aid, has said it is fighting separatist rebel movements and armed groups backed by its arch-foe Eritrea. But rights groups say the Horn of Africa country, sandwiched between volatile Somalia and Sudan, is using broad anti-terrorism legislation to crack down on dissent and media freedoms. Andualem was also found guilty of serving as a "leader or decision maker of a terrorist organisation". The life sentence was without the possibility of parole, the judge added. Eskinder was convicted of working with the outlawed Ginbot 7 group, considered a terrorist group under Ethiopian law. Harsh sentences "He (Eskinder) has been working with the Ginbot 7 organisation...," which had aggravated his sentence, the judge added. "After taking into consideration how the criminal offence was committed, the court decided on 18 years imprisonment without parole." Judges found the 24 defendants guilty of terrorism charges last month. Although 16 of them were convicted in absentia, having fled into exile, both Eskinder and Andualem were in court on Friday to hear their sentence. Dressed in suits, they waved to family members as they filed into the court room, filled with friends and family of the activists, as well as journalists and diplomats. Andualem, a member of the opposition party the Unity for Democracy and Justice (UDJ), smiled tightly and bowed his head when handed his sentence. Defence lawyer Abebe Guta said his clients had not received a fair trial. "In my personal opinion, we rebutted the prosecution's evidence beyond reasonable doubt, I think it's been not reasonably considered," he told reporters. Eskinder would appeal the sentence, he said, adding that Andualem and his other clients were also considering filing appeals, which they have 45 days to do. Exiled opposition leader Berhanu Nega, was also jailed for life on charges of treason in the aftermath of 2005's disputed parliamentary election, but was later pardoned.

Tensions in Libya ahead of first post-Gadhafi vote - KTVN Channel 2 - Reno Tahoe News Weather, Video -

By MAGGIE MICHAEL
Associated Press

TRIPOLI, Libya (AP) - Fears of militia violence and calls for a boycott threatened Friday to mar Libya's first nationwide parliamentary election, a milestone on the oil-rich North African nation's rocky path toward democracy after the ouster of dictator Moammar Gadhafi.

Saturday's vote for a 200-member transitional parliament caps a tumultuous nine-month transition toward democracy for the country after a bitter civil war that ended with the capture and killing of Gadhafi in October. Many Libyans had hoped the oil-rich nation of 6 million would quickly thrive and become a magnet for investment, but the country has suffered a virtual collapse in authority that has left formidable challenges. Armed militias still operate independently, and deepening regional and tribal divisions erupt into violence with alarming frequency.

On the eve of Saturday's vote, gunmen shot down a helicopter carrying polling materials near the eastern city of Benghazi, the birthplace of the revolution, killing one election worker, said Saleh Darhoub, a spokesman for the ruling National Transitional Council. The crew survived after a crash landing.

Prime Minister Abdurrahim el-Keib vowed the government would ensure a safe vote Saturday, and condemned the election worker's killing and those who seek to derail the vote.

"Any action aimed at hindering the election process is against the supreme interest of the nation and serves only the remnants of the old regime," he said next to a screen showing the face of the slain worker. "It is threatening to the future of the revolution and its accomplishments ... and an attempt to stop democracy for which Libyans sacrificed their souls."

It was not immediately clear who was behind Friday's shooting, but it was the latest unrest in a messy run-up to the vote that has put a spotlight on some of the major fault lines in the country - the east-west divide, the Islamist versus secularist political struggle.

Many in Libya's oil-rich east feel slighted by the election laws issued by the National Transitional Council, the body that led the rebel cause during the civil war. The laws allocate the east less than a third of the parliamentary seats, with the rest going to the western region that includes Tripoli and the sparsely-settled desert south.

The east was systematically neglected and marginalized for decades by Gadhafi, and easterners are sensitive to anything they perceive of as an attempt to prolong that neglect after the sacrifices they made during the civil war.

After the NTC passed election laws, several tribal leaders along with former rebel commanders in the east declared self-rule, set up their own council and formed their own army, while saying that they would boycott elections and even work to prevent Saturday's vote from taking place. They are pushing for semi-autonomy for the east.

Former rebel fighters from the east late Thursday in pickup trucks mounted with anti-aircraft guns took control over oil refineries in the towns of Ras Lanouf, Brega and Sidr, shutting down the facilities to pressure the NTC to cancel the vote. Earlier this week, ex-rebel fighters and other angry protesters in Benghazi and in the nearby town of Ajdabiya attacked election offices, setting fire to ballot papers and other voting materials.

Fadlallah Haroun, a former rebel commander in the east's regional capital Benghazi and proponent of eastern semi-autonomy and an election boycott put it simply: "We don't want Tripoli to rule all of Libya."

He said boycott supporters would take to the streets on election day to "prevent people from voting, because this is a vote that serves those who stole the revolution from us." He said they would not take up arms but when asked how they would stop voters, he said, "We will see tomorrow."

It was not clear how much support the calls for a boycott enjoyed.

Nearly 2.9 million Libyans, or 80 percent of Libyans eligible to vote, have registered for the election and more than 3,000 candidates have plastered the country with posters and billboards. Polls are to be open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. local time, with results expected within a week of voting.

There are four major parties in the race, ranging from the fundamentalist Muslim Brotherhood on one end of the spectrum to a secular-minded party led by a Western-educated former rebel prime minister on the other.

Flush with money, the Brotherhood's Justice and Construction party has led one of the best organized and most visible election campaigns, and they are hoping to become a political force in post-Gadhafi Libya like the Islamists have in post-revolution Egypt and Tunisia following the ouster of authoritarian regimes there.

Three other parties also are expected to perform well: Former prime minister Mahmoud Jibril's secular Alliance of National Forces, former jihadist and rebel commander Abdel-Hakim Belhaj's Al-Watan - also cofounded by Brotherhood leaders - and the National Front party, one of Libya's oldest political groups, which is credited with organizing several failed assassination attempts against Gadhafi.

The new parliament initially had two missions: to elect a new transitional government to replace the one appointed by the NTC and to put together a 60-member panel to write the country's constitution. Each of Libya's three regions was to have 20 seats on the panel.

However, in a last-minute move, the NTC decreed that the constitutional panel instead will be elected by direct vote, leaving the parliament only with the task of forming a government, angering many candidates who campaigned largely on the basis of their role in overseeing the drafting of the constitution.

Fathi Baja, a leading secular member of the NTC, alleged that the move was illegal because it came in the middle of the election process, and accused the Muslim Brotherhood of orchestrating it. He said the group fears that it won't be able to secure a majority of votes in the upcoming parliament.

"It is a precautionary move by the Muslim Brotherhood," he said. "After spending so much money in the campaign, they figured that votes will be scattered and they will not be a powerful player in parliament."

A separate vote for the constitutional panel, he said, would give the Brotherhood a chance to regroup and focus its efforts on the charter.

Youssef al-Ramis, a leading Brotherhood figure, rejected the allegations, but acknowledged that the group might not win big in elections.

"After 40 years of having our reputation tarnished by the former regime, the Muslim Brotherhood still has a long way to go," he said.

The accusations point to the division that is likely to be starkly drawn in the parliament and Libya's politics in the months and years ahead - Islamist versus secular.

In a less divisive decision, the NTC also decreed that the new constitution will definitely give a role to Islamic law. In this conservative, almost entirely Muslim country, nearly all politicians accord Shariah a role in the constitution.

The difference between parties, however, would be in to what extent Shariah will be enforced.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

End the assault on female and local journalists | David Rohde

FREEDOM OF THE PRESS | JOURNALISM

On Sunday, gangs of men sexually assaultedBritish freelance journalist Natasha Smith in Tahrir Square as crowds celebrated the results of Egypt’s presidential election.

On Wednesday, Syrian rebels attacked a pro-government television station and executed three to seven employees.

And later that day, a court in Ethiopia convictedprominent journalist Eskinder Nega of being a member of a secret plot to overthrow the government.

The theme of all the attacks? Journalists being demonized as spies, government agents or terrorists.

“We see a horrendous rise in this type of violence,” Frank La Rue, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on freedom of opinion and expression, said at a conference this week. “Not only in deaths but in the form of harassment, and in sexual assaults against female reporters.”

In a searing and courageous blog entry posted on Tuesday, Smith, the British freelance journalist, described a vicious assault in Tahrir Square.

“The women told me the attack was motivated by rumors spread by troublemaking thugs that I was a foreign spy, following a national advertising campaign warning of the dangers of foreigners,” Smith wrote. “But if that was the cause, it was only really used as a pretext, an excuse, to molest and violate a blonde young Western girl.”

Lara Logan, an American journalist who endured a similar assault in Tahrir Square last year, said she believed recent attacks on international journalists – and on foreign and local women in Egypt– were directed by remnants of the regime of former President Hosni Mubarak.

“It’s a systematic campaign against journalists, who are enemies of the state,” Logan told the Committee to Protect Journalists, a New York-based press freedom group, this week.

“They want to get the foreign media out,” Logan added. “They don’t want foreigners from the media, aid organizations, or doing democracy work. We are regarded as a threat to the regime.”

The assault on Logan last year prompted dozens of female journalists to break a code of silence and disclose previous sexual assaults. In the four months after the attack, 
42
 52 female reporters disclosed to the Committee to Protect Journalists that they had experienced varying degrees of sexual violence – from rape by multiple attackers to aggressive groping – in retaliation for their work or while reporting.

The victims included 27 local journalists from the Middle East, South Asia, Africa and the Americas. Twenty-five international journalists reported being assaulted, including two who said they had been raped. Several male journalists said they had been sexually abused when in detention or captivity. Most of the attacks occurred in the last five years. A small number date back 20 years.

“Many of the assaults fall into three general types,” CPJ said in a June 2011 report entitled “The Silencing Crime“. “Targeted sexual violation of specific journalists, often in reprisal for their work; mob-related sexual violence against journalists covering public events; and sexual abuse of journalists in detention or captivity.”

Journalists are also dying. This year, Syria has the world’s highest death toll. So far, 12 Syrian and foreign journalists have perished while covering the conflict there.

In February, government forces fired rockets at a makeshift press center used by Syrian and foreign journalists in the city of Homs after apparently tracking satellite telephone signals from the site. The attack killed the Syrian blogger Anas al Tarsha, French photographer Remi Ochlik and American journalist Marie Colvin. The Syrian government has also tried to use spying software to track Syrian anti-government activists, according to the Electronic Frontier Foundation, an Internet free-speech group.

Around the word, technological innovations are giving journalists in developing countries larger audiences and more power, according to advocates at this week’s conference, which was organized by the International Press Institute. States, in turn, are trying to silence reporters in multiple ways.

In Guatemala, a recently enacted law makes sparking a “bank panic” a criminal offense. The practical result is that journalists are barred from examining the performance of banks and other financial institutions.

In parts of Europe, the siblings and other relatives of journalists have been arrested or physically assaulted in retaliation for critical reporting. And in former British and French colonies, antiquated criminal defamation laws allow politicians and businessmen to file defamation suits carrying potential jail terms against journalists.

“We have insult laws, we have sedition laws, we have falsehood laws,” said Faith Pansy Tlakula, an African press freedom monitor. “Only 10 countries on the African continent have adopted open information laws.”

As the intimidation and harassment worsens, press, and Internet-freedom groups are increasingly calling for the United Nations to do more to protect journalists and the public’s right to information. But China, Russia, India, Brazil and other countries are calling for the U.N. to be given the power to police speech, not protect it.

They are proposing that an obscure U.N. agency – the International Telecommunication Union – have control over the administration of the World Wide Web, instead of the California-based non-profit, ICANN, that currently does.

Chinese officials argue that U.N. oversight would help block the spread of malware and spam. Press freedom groups say it is a blatant attempt to control the Web.

“Will the U.N. be the global censor?” asked Joel Simon, CPJ’s executive director. “Or the global defender of the right to information?”

Let’s hope it’s the latter.

ILLUSTRATION: Elsa Jenna/Reuters

NOTE: The number of women who reported sexual violence to the Committee to Protect Journalists was corrected to 52 from 42.

Ethiopia refining Internet censorship | Fox News-Journalists

JOHANNESBURG –  The Committee to Protect Journalists says it appears Ethiopia is extending and refining its censorship of Internet news with a sophistication that could encourage other authoritarian regimes in Africa.

Prime Minister Meles Zenawi's government has been blocking major news sites and blog hosts since disputed general election results in 2005 led to violent protests. Voice Over Internet Protocol such as Skype also is blocked, forcing people to use the state telephone system.

A CPJ statement Monday says "the rollout of a far more pervasive and sophisticated blocking system" started in April to include smaller blogs by exiles and news services, and even individual Facebook pages.

"The gap through which undetected, uncensored news gets in and out of Ethiopia is definitely narrowing," encouraging similar action from authoritarian regimes such as Sudan.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/world/2012/07/02/journalists-ethiopia-refining-internet-censorship/#ixzz1zUhjZwiv

Swedes Schibbye and Persson mark year in Ethiopian Dictator jail

Swedes Schibbye and Persson mark year in Ethiopia jail       Ethiopia - Two Swedish journalists convicted in Ethiopia for entering the country illegally and supporting terrorism have now spent one year in prison.   Martin Schibbye and Johan Persson were captured together with rebels from the Ogaden National Liberation Front.   On the eve of the anniversary of their arrest, the pair said in a statement that the biggest challenge for them now was "psychological".   They have always argued that they were just doing their jobs as journalists.   "It has been the longest year in our lives," photojournalist Person and reporter Schibbye said in the statement conveyed via Swedish diplomats who met them at the prison earlier this week.   "Initially we only focused on eating, keeping warm on the cement floor and not falling ill. Today the challenge is psychological. Prison kills your intellect."   Ethiopian prosecutors had asked for longer sentences of up to 18 years, but the presiding judge decided last year that 11 years was appropriate.   Human rights group Amnesty International has said the journalists were prosecuted for doing "legitimate work".   But Ethiopia's government spokesman Bereket Simon has said the journalists were "red handed" co-operating with "terrorist organisations".   Media reports have suggested that the reporters would not appeal their sentence, but rather apply for clemency.   Schibbye and Persson were captured by Ethiopian troops during a clash with ONLF fighters on 1 July.   The men acknowledged during their trial that they had held talks with ONLF leaders in London and Nairobi, before entering Ethiopia from Somalia and meeting about 20 members of the group 40km (25 miles) from the border.   However, they said their contacts with the ONLF were intended to help them to get into a region the Ethiopian authorities would not allow journalists to enter.   They said they wanted to report on the activities of a Swedish oil company, Lundin Petroleum, in the Ogaden.   Both men denied terrorism charges, including claims that they had been given weapons training.   Rebels in the Ogaden region have been fighting for independence since the 1970s and the ONLF has been at the forefront of the fight since it was founded in 1984.   The Ogaden is an ethnic Somali part of Ethiopia.   One ONLF faction has signed a peace deal with the government, but another splinter group has continued to fight the army.   Rights groups accuse Ethiopia of trying to cover up abuses by troops in the region. Angola Press

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Ethiopia: Terrorism Law Used to Crush Free Speech | SomalilandPress.com - Somali News in English

Donors Should Condemn Verdicts, Demand Legal Reforms

(Nairobi) – Ethiopian high court on June 27, 2012, convicted 24 journalists, political opposition leaders, and others under Ethiopia’s deeply flawed anti-terrorism law, Human Rights Watch said today.

The Ethiopian government should immediately drop all politically motivated charges against the defendants and amend the law’s most pernicious provisions, which are being used to criminalize free expression and peaceful dissent, Human Rights Watch said.

In the third high-profile “terrorism” verdict in the past six months, Eskinder Nega Fenta, an independent journalist and blogger, was one of six journalists convicted under the Anti-Terrorism Proclamation of 2009. Their sentencing is expected on July 13.

Eskinder Nega, who was recently honored with the prestigious PEN America press freedom award, is in detention in Addis Ababa, and was convicted of conspiracy to commit terrorist acts, which carries a sentence of 15 years to life imprisonment or death,as well as participation in a terrorist organization and treason. The other five journalists were convicted in absentia. A total of 11 journalists have been charged or convicted under the anti-terrorism law since December 2011, including two Swedish journalists who were arrested while trying to investigate the conflict in Ethiopia’s eastern Somali region.

“This case shows that Ethiopia’s government will not tolerate even the mildest criticism,” saidLeslie Lefkow, deputy Africa director at Human Rights Watch. “The use of draconian laws and trumped-up charges to crack down on free speech and peaceful dissent makes a mockery of the rule of law.”

Members of the political opposition were also among those convicted under the law on June 27.

Andualem Arage Wale and Nathnael Mekonnen Gebre Kidan, prominent members of Unity for Democracy and Justice (UDJ), a registered opposition political party, were found guilty of conspiracy to commit terrorist acts as well as participation in a terrorist organization and treason as was Kinfemichael Debebe Bereded, a member of the All Ethiopian Democratic Party (AEDP).

The convictions bring the total known number of individuals convicted of terrorism-related charges to 34, including 11 journalists, at least 4 opposition supporters and 19 others.

The anti-terrorism law’s most problematic provisions were used during this trial, Human Rights Watch said.

Two of the journalists tried in absentia, Mesfin Negash and Abiye Tekle Mariam, were convicted under the law’s article on support for terrorism, which contains a vague prohibition on “moral support.” This provision is contrary to the principle of legality, which requires that people be able to determine what acts would constitute a crime. Only journalists have been charged and convicted under this article.

All of the 24 defendants were initially charged with “terrorist acts.” Human Rights Watch has repeatedly raised concerns over the law’s broad definition of “terrorist acts,” which can be used to prosecute lawful, peaceful dissent. Similarly, all defendants were initially charged with “encouragement of terrorism,” which includes the publication of statements “likely to be understood as encouraging terrorist acts,” a provision that Human Rights Watch has warned could be used against government critics and journalists who even publish the names of organizations or individuals deemed to be terrorists.

“The Ethiopian government is using every means at its disposal to shut down press freedom,” Lefkow said. “Ethiopia’s international partners should immediately call for the release of the many journalists and opposition supporters unlawfully prosecuted, and for the revision of the law that put them behind bars.”

Ethiopian courts have little independence from the government. As in earlier terrorism trials, the trial of the 24 was marred by serious due process violations, Human Rights Watch said. The defendants had no access to legal counsel during almost two months of pre-trial detention and complaints of mistreatment and torture by defendants were not appropriately investigated.

Nathnael Mekonnen told the court that during his pre-trial detention he was tortured for 23 days, including being beaten, forced to stand for hours upon end, deprived of sleep, and having cold water repeatedly poured over him at the notorious Maekelawi facility. His complaints were not investigated. According to credible sources, Andualem Arage lodged a complaint after he was beaten by a convicted prisoner on February 15 in Kaliti prison, but his complaint was dismissed. The court prevented further questioning by defense attorneys and accepted as fact the response by the prison administrator that contradicted Andualem’s claims, without further investigation.

Furthermore, the Ethiopian authorities and government media have repeatedly undermined defendants’ presumption of innocence. In October 2011 Prime Minister Meles Zenawi told the Ethiopian parliament that the journalists and political opposition members arrested under the law were guilty of terrorism.

In late November state-run Ethiopian Television (ETV) broadcast a three-part program called “Akeldama” (“Land of Blood”) in which several of the defendants, including Andualem Arage and Nathnael Mekonnen, were filmed in detention, seemingly under duress, describing their alleged involvement in what the documentary brands a “terrorist plot.” Allegations were also made against Eskinder Nega. The court reportedly dismissed the complaints of due process violations against the defendants on the grounds that the video footage was not produced as evidence by the prosecutor.

The same court later charged the editor of the independent weekly newspaper Feteh, Temesghen Desalegn, of contempt of court for having among other things reproduced verbatim statements made by a defendant. The courts in Ethiopia have little independence from the government.

“The courts trying cases under the anti-terrorism law have repeatedly run roughshod over the rights of defendants,” Lefkow said. “Judicial independence has all but vanished in any politically sensitive case in Ethiopia.”

Report by

Human Rights Watch

Ethiopians Journalists terrorism Verdict is delayed up unto June 27 2012

(AFP) – 23 hours ago  

ADDIS ABABA — An Ethiopian judge has again delayed the verdict in the case of 24 people charged with terrorism, including a prominent journalist and an opposition member, a defence lawyer said Thursday.

The verdict is now expected to be delivered on June 27, in order to give the judges time to "evaluate and pass a decision", lawyer Abebe Guta said.

Among those charged are prominent journalist Eskinder Nega and opposition member Andualem Arage. Both appeared in court in suits and smiled and waved to friends and family as they filed into the courtroom.

The courtroom was packed with family members, journalists and diplomats, including US Ambassador Donald Booth.

This is the second time the verdict has been delayed. Judges were expected to deliver a ruling on May 11, but said the defendants' case had not been transcribed in full.

Eskinder was honoured in New York last month with a "freedom to write" award from the US-based media watchdog PEN.

He was arrested last year after publishing articles asking whether the Arab Spring uprisings could have an influence in Ethiopia and questioning the arrests of Ethiopians under the country's anti-terrorism law.

He is one of 11 independent journalists and bloggers charged with terrorism since 2011, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists, which says Ethiopia's media is one of the most restricted in the world.

Rights groups have accused Ethiopian officials of using anti-terrorism legislation to stifle peaceful dissent.

The 24 on trial were charged with terrorism in September 2011, and could face the death penalty if found guilty.

Copyright © 2012 AFP. All rights reserved. More »