Somalia journalists protest "libelous Guardian article" - Globaltimes.cn

Dozens of Somali journalists on Thursday held protests against an article in the British paper the Guardian in which the writer alleged Somali reporters to be corrupt and that many of them are killed for their involvement in graft.

The Guardian piece authored by London-based journalist Jamal Osman was entitled "Somali Journalists are dying of corruption as much as conflict" claimed that the majority of journalists killed in Somalia are murdered as a result of their involvement in corruption, a claim vehemently refuted by the country's journalist Union.

"We think saying that Somali journalists are involved in corruption and that they are killed because of it is something we cannot comprehend. Somali journalists are killed by those who want to silence them and Jamal and by extension the Guardian are justifying the killing of Somali journalists," Mohamed Ibrahim, leader of National Union of Somali Journalists said during the protests in Mogadishu.

Somali journalists carried banners and placards that condemned the content of the piece run by the British newspaper and authored by a London-based journalist Jamal Osman, who often reports from Al-Shabaab held areas for the Guardian Newspaper and Channel 4, a British TV station.

Some of the banners and placards that protesting journalists carried read: "Jamal Osman justifies killing of Somali journalists," "Shame on you, Guardian" and "Somali journalists are protesting against libelous article by so-called journalist Jamal Osman."

The protest was held at a restaurant in Mogadishu where the latest deadly attack against Somali journalists took place last month in which three journalists were killed when twin suicide attackers targeted the Village Restaurant, an up-market Cafe frequented by reporters.



The Guardian article came at a time when Somali journalists suffered the deadliest year with the brutal killing of 15 of them at the hands of the group of Al-Shabaab, according to the Somali journalists union.

"This is a libelous and cruel piece by a man with an agenda to divert attention from the real murders of Somali journalist and accuse them of contributing to their own death. This is cruel, unprofessional and unjustified," said Mohamed Nuhurkey, a local freelance journalist at the protest.

The Somali Journalist Union announced that the Union as well as its members and the wider journalist community were severing their relations with the Guardian and Channel 4 and demanded an apology from the Guardian and called for an investigation into "the libelous piece." 

Swedish journalists tell of time in Ethiopia jail - BBC News -

jail

Martin Schibbye (L) and Johan Persson arrived back in Sweden in September after more than 400 days in an Ethiopian jail

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Swedish journalists Johan Persson and Martin Schibbye have been speaking to the BBC about their time in prison in Ethiopia.

They were recently freed after serving more than 400 days of an 11-year sentence.

The pair were found guilty of entering the country illegally and supporting a rebel group, the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF).

Their lengthy jail terms put the treatment of journalists in Ethiopia under the international spotlight.

Martin Schibbye and Johan Persson were captured along with ONLF rebels in June 2011.

They maintained that they were only doing their jobs, and human rights group Amnesty International said the journalists had been prosecuted for doing "legitimate work".

But Ethiopian government spokesman Bereket Simon previously defended the decision to jail the pair, saying the journalists were caught "red handed" co-operating with "terrorist organisations".

Former Prime Minister Meles Zenawi reportedly pardoned the journalists before his death in August, leading to their release.

'Rats, fleas and sick people'

Johan Persson told the BBC World Service programme Newsday that conditions in the prison in which hey were held were poor.

"It was 200% overcrowded. It was very hot. There was a lack of water. It was dusty. There were rats, fleas and many people were sick with HIV or tuberculosis," he said.

But he said the conditions were not as significant as the other inmates: "What's interesting is who they put in there: journalists and the political opposition."

Although the pair admit that they entered Ethiopia illegally, they argue that their trial was unfair.

"The trial was a joke," said Mr Persson. "Meles Zenawi was saying on national television, three or four weeks before the trial started, that we were guilty."

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“Start Quote

As long as governments make laws to protect themselves against journalists, our job is to break those laws. I would do the same again today”

Johan Persson

They also believe the charge of moral support for terrorism, of which they were found guilty, has been misused against other journalists in Ethiopia.

"For the last few years Ethiopia has been using its anti-terror legislation to crack down on the media and to crack down on journalism," Mr Schibbye told Newsday.

The freelance reporters had been in the Ogaden, an ethnic Somali region in eastern Ethiopia, for four days before they were arrested.

"The Ethiopian army spotted us. Then they followed in our footsteps for three to four days. Then they ambushed us.

"We were attacked by about 150 Ethiopian army soldiers who opened fire on us. We got hit quite quickly. I got hit in the shoulder and Johan got hit in the arm. Somebody shouted, 'media, media, international press,' and we were arrested," said Martin Schibbye.

'No regrets'

After their arrest they said they were ordered at gunpoint to take part in a film supposedly documenting their relationship with the Ogaden National Liberation Front.

"Two civilians, who we'd never seen before, were dressed up as rebels. The soldiers gave them guns and stood them in front of us, and they testified against us and said that we came with them from Somalia," says Mr Schibbye.

The journalists allege that senior Ethiopian civilian officials were in charge of the filming.

"This was not being done by some crazy militia: the director was the vice president in the region, and in the evening the regional president called us and said, 'We are not satisfied by your performances in the film,'" said Mr Schibbye. Eventually the film was used against them in court.

Ethiopia's eastern Ogaden region has been the focus of an insurgency by local ethnic Somalis.

"We were walking through villages where there had been people living till recently, but now they had fled, forced out by the conflict. There was heavy fighting and that was one of the reasons why we were detected and followed and ambushed by the Ethiopian army," Mr Persson said.

Despite spending more than a year n prison, they say they have no regrets their time in Ethiopia.

For Martin Schibbye, the work of foreign correspondent is one that requires taking risks and refusing to accept there are areas closed to journalists.

His colleague agrees: "As long as governments make laws to protect themselves against journalists, our job is to break those laws. I would do the same again today."

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Ethiopia: jailed journalists, opposition leader property confiscated [501818946] | The Africa Report.com

 

The Ethiopian Federal High Court has ordered the property of a jailed Ethiopian journalist and opposition party leader to be confiscated.

The decision to confiscate Eskinder Nega's property, according to the Ethiopian Ministry of Justice, comes after a request made by federal prosecutors.

However, the courts ordered that a villa house registered under Nega's name and another residential house, inherited from his parents, as well as an automobile registered under his wife's name, not to be sold or transferred to a third party.

Nega is currently serving 18 years imprisonment on terrorism charges.

In May 2012, Eskinder was awarded the prestigious Pen American's Freedom to write annual prize for his work.

The courts also ordered that opposition leader, Andulem Arage's car, which was believed to be his, but registered under his wife's name, not be sold or transferred to a third body.

Arage is serving life imprisonment under the same terrorism charges.

The federal court also ordered the property of another journalist, Abebe Gelaw's property, a stand and a residential villa in Addis Ababa not to be sold or transferred to a third body.

Gelaw, a United States resident, was sentenced to 15 years imprisonment in absentia. His residential house is said to be registered under his wife's name.

In July 2012, Ethiopian courts sentenced 20 journalists and opposition politicians between eight years to life imprisonment.

Read the original article on Theafricareport.com : Ethiopia: jailed journalists, opposition leader property confiscated [501818946] | The Africa Report.com 
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Swedish Television reportedly blocked by Ethiopia government

ADDIS ABABA: Sweden’s national television channel SVT has reported that their website has been blocked by the Ethiopia government since early Saturday morning.

The reported blocking, which Bikyamasr.com was able to confirm was not loading in the country, comes less than two weeks after two Swedish journalists Johan Persson and Martin Schibbye were given pardons after serving one-year in jail on “terrorism” charges after being arrested while covering stories in the eastern part of the country.

According to sources contacted by SVT, the svt.se website has been down in the country since early on Saturday morning.

Despite SVT’s claims, one top government official says that if it has been blocked it did “not come from the top,” arguing that new Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn has “not given any notification for any media outlet to be blocked in the country.”

But another reporter said Ethiopia is weary of Sweden’s coverage of the country and is taking precautions.

“Ethiopia is very uncomfortable with the information that we have broadcast. They know that we are going to produce more,” said reporter Johan Ripås to svt.se.

According to Mikael Hvinlund at SVT the cause of the interruption is under investigation.

“It is very regrettable if it is that they have shut down our site, that a country imposes such restrictions. We have had a comprehensive coverage and have strong sources, and they are obviously irritated by the publicity,” he told the TT news agency.

It is still unclear if the site is being blocked by the government, or there is a problem with the service providers in Ethiopia, although experts say the blocking is more likely a cause.

Ethiopia bans Swedish state television: report - The Local

PARDONED SWEDES COME HOME

Ethiopia bans Swedish state television: report

Published: 22 Sep 12 16:49 CET | Double click on a word to get a translation 

The website of Swedish state broadcaster Sveriges Television (SVT) has been blocked in Ethiopia amid claims that the reason is their reporting of the case of journalists Johan Persson and Martin Schibbye.

• 'The government acted too slowly': relatives (15 Sep 12)
• 'They were the longest days of our lives' (14 Sep 12)
• 'We feel good and are incredibly relieved' (14 Sep 12)

According to sources contacted by SVT, the svt.se website has been down in the country since early on Saturday morning.

Persson and Schibbye were recently released from Ethiopian prison and SVT is among the news media which have reported on claims that evidence was falsified to secure their convictions on terror charges.

"Ethiopia is very uncomfortable with the information that we have broadcast. They know that we are going to produce more," said reporter Johan Ripås to svt.se.

According to Mikael Hvinlund at SVT the cause of the interruption is under investigation.

"It is very regrettable if it is that they have shut down our site, that a country imposes such restrictions. We have had a comprehensive coverage and have strong sources, and they are obviously irritated by the publicity," he told the TT news agency.

"If they have done so deliberately then it is a very serious and powerful signal."

He confirmed that SVT were given no notice, and that it had come as a surprise.

"We are going to contact Ethiopia's embassy in Sweden to seek an explanation for why they have done this."

SVT are also busy investigating whether other Swedish news sites have also suffered the same fate.

"There are others also reporting so if there should be any point with it then they should close more Swedish sites," he said.

TT/The Local/pvs (news@thelocal.se)

Swedish journalists tell of Ethiopia prison ordeal, say terror trial was a ‘sham’ - The Washington Post

(Scanpix Sweden, Anders Wiklund/ Associated Press ) - Swedish reporter Martin Schibbye, front left, stands with Swedsih Photographer Johan Persson are welcomed by various friends and family as they arrive at Arlanda airport in Stockholm, Sweden, Friday Sept. 14, 2012. The two Swedish journalists were released from captivity earlier this week in Ethiopia after being pardoned by the government which had sentenced them in July 2011 to 11-years for abetting terrorism and entering the country illegally.

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By Associated Press, Published: September 14

STOCKHOLM — Back home after being imprisoned in Ethiopia for more than a year, two Swedish journalists on Friday dismissed their trial on terror charges as a “sham,” saying they accepted 11-year prison terms to improve their chances of being released.

Martin Schibbye and Johan Persson also said in a news conference that their apology on Ethiopian TV in connection with their release last week was not sincere.

“At that time we were still prisoners, and it was part of the process” of being freed, Schibbye said. “I did not mean it.”

The two were arrested in the summer of 2011 while trying to cross from Somalia into Ethiopia’s Ogaden region along with fighters from the separatist Ogaden National Liberation Front, which Ethiopia classifies as a terrorist group.

In December, the journalists were sentenced to 11 years each for abetting terrorism and entering the country illegally. They denied the terror charges, saying they were in Ethiopia simply to do their work as journalists.

“This is normal, traditional journalistic leg work,” Schibbye said. “We were sentenced in a sham process to 11 years in prison, and then had to sit in a prison camp for all these months.”

The Swedes said that a video used as evidence against them supposedly showing the raid in which they were arrested was actually recorded several days later and was staged by the Ethiopian army.

Schibbye also said that in the days following the arrest an interrogation leader threatened to kill him in the desert.

“He said ‘you will die here, we will shoot you here today if you don’t tell the truth,’” Schibbye said. “One soldier lifts his rifle and points it at me, then aims it to the side and shoots into the brush. Then the camera comes up and a new investigation begins.”

Ethiopian Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesman Dina Mufti called the journalists’ allegations “inaccurate” and “unacceptable.”

“They have been saying all along that they were being treated very well, they were even comparing the situation with other countries to say they were very ok and are better off here,” Mufti told The Associated Press.

The jailing of the journalists was condemned by rights watchdogs such as the Committee to Protect Journalists, which said their trial was “an affront to justice and press freedom.”

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Associated Press writer Kirubel Tadesse in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, contributed to this report.

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