Ethiopian Journalist Arrested Over Article About Former Dictator Wife

 

(VOA News) ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA — An Ethiopian journalist has been arrested and interrogated for writing an article about the wife of late prime minister Meles Zenawi. Wednesday’s arrest came as a surprise since the article was published seven months ago.

Ethiopian journalist Ferew Abebe, editor-in-chief of the weekly publication Sendek, said he was summoned Wednesday to the Federal Police Crime Investigation Department office. He was interrogated about an article he wrote and published seven months ago and was accused of defaming the former first lady, Azeb Mesfin.
Ferew said he was very surprised about the interrogation and being treated like a criminal. He said the federal police asked him many questions and wanted him to reveal his sources. They then took his fingerprints, personal details and photos before releasing him on $265 bail.
Asked for comment, an official in the Ethiopian prime minister’s office, Getachew Redda, said he has no knowledge about journalists being interrogated for writing rumors about the former first lady.
According to the published article, the wife refused to leave the prime minister’s palace weeks after the death of her husband, making it impossible for Meles successor Hailemariam Desalegn to move in.
The federal police say someone filed a complaint about the article, but would not say who.
Ferew was summoned Wednesday morning to appear at the police office and he said he was not told why. By the time the interrogation started, he said, he did not get the chance to contact his lawyer. Ferew said he was not intimidated by the government’s actions. He said that he knows he did his work professionally and that this gives him strength to not hold back in the future.
Prosecutors say they are looking into the case and will take Ferew to court if there is enough evidence.
Rights groups say Ethiopia has a poor record when it comes to freedom of speech for local journalists. The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists says seven Ethiopian journalists currently are in prison. The appeal of prominent blogger Eskinder Nega was denied earlier this month, meaning he has to serve an 18-year jail sentence.

ግንቦት ሰባት የትግል ቃልኪዳን የሚታደስበት ቀን ነዉ!!

ጋዜጣዊ መግለጫ

የኢትዮጵያ ህዝብ በታሪክና በባህል ትስስሩ፤ በረጂም ግዜ አብሮ መኖር ልምዱና እንዲሁም በነፃነትና ዲሞክራሲ ትግል ምዕራፉ ዉስጥ በጋራ ያፈራቸዉና በባለቤትነት የሚጋራቸዉ የተለያዩ እሴቶች አሉት። ቆየት ያሉትንና በኩራት የሚያስፈነድቀንን የአድዋን ድል ወይም በኃዘን ስሜታችንን ሁሌም የሚቆጠቁጡዉን የሰማዕታት ቀን ትተን የአጭር ግዜ ትዉስታችንን ስንፈትሽ ፊታችን ላይ እንደ መስታወት ድቅን እያሉ እራሳችንን ከሚያሳያዩን ቀኖች ዉስጥ አንዱና ዋነኛዉ ግንቦት 7 1997 ዓም የዋለዉ ታሪካዊ ቀን ነዉ። ይህ ቀን በኢትዮጵያ ህዝብ የፍትህ፤ የነጻነትና የዲሞክራሲ ትግል ሂደት ዉስጥ የፀሐይንና የጨረቃን ያክል ገዝፎና ደምቆ የሚታይ ልዩ ቀን ነዉ። ግንቦት ሰባት 1997 ዓም የኢትዮጵያ ህዝብ ብሩህና የወደፊቱን አመላካች የሆነ ፍሬያማ ጉዞ ጀምሮ ፍሬዉን ከማየቱ በፊት የጀመረዉን ጉዞ እንዲያቋርጥ የተገደደበትና ለዘመናት አንገቱ ላይ አንደ ቀንበር ተጭኖበት የቆየዉን የአምባገነኖች ክፉ ጫና አዉልቆ ለመጣል ሲዘገጅ ዝግጅቱ በአጭር የተቀጨበት ጨለማና ተስፋ፤ ቁጭትና ጽናት አንድ ላይ የታዩበት ትንግርታዊ ቀን ነዉ።

ግንቦት 7 ቀን 1997 ዓ.ም. በዛሬዉና ለወደፊት በተከታታይ በሚመጣዉ ኢትዮጰያዊ ትዉልድ ልብ ውስጥ ተስፋን፤ ልበሙሉነትን፤ ጅግንነትንና መስዋዕትነትን እየጠቆመ ለዘለአለም የሚዘከር ቀን ነዉ። ግንቦት ሰባት የኢትዮጵያ ህዝብ በጠመንጃ ኃይል እላዩ ላይ የተጫነበትን ዘረኛ አምባገነን ስርዐት በምርጫ ካርድ ጥሎ ለእድገት፤ ለሰላምና ለአንድነቴ ይበጁኛል ያላቸዉን መሪዎቹን መርጦ ስልጣን ወንበር ላይ ለማስቀመጥ ታሪካዊ እርምጃ የወሰደበትና አርቆ አሰተዋይነቱን ለአለም ህዝብ ያሳየበት ቀን ነዉ። በሌላ በኩል ደግሞ ግንቦት ሰባት አምባገነኑ የወያኔ አገዛዝ ለህዝብ ምርጫና ፍላጎት የማይገዛና የስልጣን ዘመኔን ያሳጥርብኛል ብሎ ያሰበዉን ሁሉ ያለ ርህራሄ የሚገድል ጸረ ህዝብ ኃይል መሆኑን ያረጋገጠበት ቀን ነዉ።

ግንቦት ሰባት ቀን የኢትዮጵያ ህዝብ ቋንቋ፤ ክልልና ኃይማኖት ሳይከፋፍሉት ከዳር ዳር አንደ አንድ ሰዉ በመቆም ያሳየዉ የኢትዮጵያዊነት፤የአንድነትና፣ የወንድማማችነት ስሜት በጻነትና በዲሞክራሲ ትግላችን ታሪክ ዉስጥ ለዘለአለም ሲታወሱ የሚኖሩ የህዝብ ትዉስታዎች ናቸዉ። ሆኖም ግንቦት ሰባት የኢትዮጵያ ህዝብ አንድነቱንና ለዲሞክራሲ ዝግጁ መሆኑን ያረጋገጠዉን ያክል ጠላቶቹም እነሱ ስልጣን ላይ እስካሉ ድረስ ኢትዮጵያ ዉስጥ ሊኖር የሚችለዉ ዲሞክራሲ ከእነሱ ዉጭ ሌላ ማንንም ወደ ስልጣን የማያመጣ መሆኑን በጠመንጃ ኃይል ያረጋገጡበት ቀን ነዉ።

ግንቦት ሰባት 1997 ዓም የወያኔ አገዛዝ በኢትዮጵያ ህዝብ ልብና አዕምሮ ዉስጥ መንግስትን በምርጫ ካርድ መቀየር እንችላለን የሚል ስሜት እንዳይለመልም በህግ ሽፋን ተከታታይ እርምጃዎችን መዉሰድ የጀመረበት ቀን ሲሆን፤ የኢትዮጵያ ህዝብም በበኩሉ ነጻ የመገናኛ ተቋሞች፤ ነጻ ፍርድ ቤት፤ገለልተኛ የምርጫ ተቋምና ለህገ መንግስት የሚገዛ ጦር ኃይል በሌለበት ሁኔታ ዉስጥ የሚካሄዱ ምርጫዎች እንደማይጠቅሙት አዉቆ ወያኔን ማስገደድ የሚችል የትግል እስትራቴጂ የቀየሰበት ቀን ነዉ።

ግንቦት 7 ቀን 2000 ዓም የኢትዮጵያ ህዝብ ወያኔ በጠመንጃ ኃይል የነጠቀውን መብት በተቀነባበረ ሁለገብ ህዝባዊ ትግል ለማስመለስና ኢትዮጵያ ዉስጥ የፖለቲካ ስልጣን ምንጭ ህዝብ ብቻ መሆኑን ለማረጋገጥ አዲስ የትግል ስልትና ግንቦት ሰባት የፍትህ፤የነጻነትና የዲሞክራሲ ንቅናቄን አምጦ የወለደበት ቀን ነዉ። የግንቦት 7 ብቸኛ አላማ ኢትዮጵያ ዉስጥ መንበረ ስልጣን ትክክለኛ ባለቤቱ ወደ ሆነዉ የኢትዮጵያ ህዝብ እጅ ዉስጥ እንዲገባ ማድረግና የወያኔን አገዛዝ አገራችን ዉስጥ የመጨረሻዉ አምባገነን ስርአት ማድረግ ነዉ። ግንቦት 7 ይህ አላማዉ ግቡን እስኪመታ ድረስ ህዝባዊ ትግሉን እንደሚገፋበት ለኢትዮጵያ ህዝብ የገባዉ ቃል ኪዳን ዛሬም ህያዉ መሆኑን ያረጋግጣል።

ድል ለኢትዮጵያ ህዝብ!!

“Keep Eritrea under close scrutiny,” new UN Special Rapporteur

UN Human Rights
May 15, 2013
Editor's Note - The following report on human rights violations in Eritrea doesn't make neighboring Ethiopia any better. For instance, a secret underground torture chamber was discovered in Mekelle, capital of Tigrai, recently. It is called "06" (Bado Shdushte). It is TPLF's rebel-era torture chamber where dissidents are grilled through hell on Earth. The discovery of the torture chamber in Mekelle was made possible when veteran opposition figure Asgede G. Selassie's two children were arrested, and one of them was found in the secret prison on the outskirts of Mekelle. Ethiomedia has interviewed a survivor of "06" and will post the story in the near future. By the way, the courts don't know about the existence of "06" as inmates have never had a chance to appear before court. "06" is the harrowing world where TPLF commits bestial atrocities. Would this make Ethiopia any better than Eritrea? Oh, no!
GENEVA (14 May 2013) – The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in Eritrea, Sheila B. Keetharuth, today called on the international community to keep Eritrea under close scrutiny until meaningful change is evident in the country.
“Blatant disrespect for human rights in Eritrea is unacceptable,” Ms. Keetharuth stressed after a ten-day mission to Ethiopia and Djibouti to collect first-hand information directly from Eritrean refugees on the human rights situation in their country. “Real change would require a fundamental reform process transforming the current culture of rights denial with one anchored in the rule of law, respect for and realization of all human rights and human dignity.”The human rights expert warned that the high numbers of Eritrean refugees in both countries is indicative of the serious human rights violations in Eritrea, pushing people to take the difficult decision to leave their families and homes behind for an unknown future.“An improvement in the human rights situation in Eritrea will be crucial to allow refugees to return to their home country,” Ms. Keetharuth noted while commending the efforts by Ethiopia and Djibouti to host the large Eritrean refugee communities. “Many of those refugees I spoke to underlined their wish to return, should there be a significant shift from the Government’s current brutal and inhumane policies and practices.”In Ethiopia, the human rights expert met with representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Administration for Refugee and Returnee Affairs (ARRA), and representatives of the African Union. She also visited the ARRA Reception Centre in Endabaguna, as well as the Adi-Harush and Mai-Aini refugee camps in the Tigray region.“The continuing stream of refugees is of high concern,” she said. Since the beginning of the year, close to 4,000 Eritrean refugees have crossed the Ethiopian-Eritrean border, bringing the number of those living in the three camps in the Tigray region to over 50,000 Eritrean refugees. “I am particularly concerned about the increasing number of unaccompanied children crossing the border without the knowledge of their families,” Ms. Keetharuth said. “Children regularly mentioned dysfunctional family circumstances due to the long absence of the father, most of the time because of conscription, lack of educational opportunities and the fear of forced conscription into indefinite national service as major reasons for their decisions to flee.”The rights expert warned that such a situation not only poses major protection challenges but is indicative of the scale of despair these children are facing at home. “A 16-year old boy asked me ‘How can I go to Wi’a for military training? I have no interest in being a soldier.’ He was terrorized by the harsh conditions prevailing in this desert camp, which he described at length,” she recalled. In Djibouti, the Special Rapporteur held meetings with the Minister of Cooperation and representatives of the national security, the local administration, as well as the Office National d’Assistance aux Réfugiés et aux Sinistrés.

Ethiopian editor questioned for publishing story on Meles' widow

By CPJ
May 16, 2013
New York, May 15, 2013-Ethiopian police in Addis Ababa questioned an editor for several hours on Wednesday in connection with a story published in October about the widow of the late Ethiopian leader Meles Zenawi, according to news reports.Officers in the Ethiopian Federal Police Crime Investigation Department interrogated Ferew Abebe, the former editor-in-chief of the private Amharic-language weekly Sendek, about his sources for the October 10, 2012, story that said Azeb Mesfin, Meles' widow, had refused to leave the Ethiopian national palace nearly two months after the prime minister's death, local journalists said. The story, which was widely covered in local and international press, cited government sources as saying that Meles' successor, Hailemarian Desalegn, was unable to live in the palace.
Ferew refused to identify his sources and cited Ethiopian laws that guaranteed the rights of a journalist to keep sources confidential, local journalists said. According to the Ethiopian penal code, a court can compel journalists to reveal their sources if a crime has been committed against the constitutional order, national defense force, or security of the state, which constitutes clear and imminent danger.Police released Ferew on a bond of 5,000 birrs (US$265) pending further investigation, according to the same sources.On Monday, police also summoned a deputy editor for Sendek to question him about the same story, local journalists said. He was released without charge."Ethiopian police's demand that Ferew Abebe reveal his sources for a story published seven months ago is intimidation and tramples on the protections afforded to journalists under Ethiopian law," said CPJ Africa Advocacy Coordinator Mohamed Keita. "We call on authorities to abandon their long-standing pattern of vindictive persecution of journalists who raise questions about issues of public interest, such as the occupation of a public building by the former first lady."At least seven journalists are behind bars in Ethiopia, making the country the second leading jailer of journalists in Africa, according to CPJ research. Ethiopia trails only Eritrea among Africa's worst jailers of journalists, CPJ research shows.

Refusing a ‘diminished self’

 

Reported by National & World Affairs
Informed by prison experience, activist-scholar imagines a more open Ethiopia

Kris Snibbe/Harvard Staff Photographer

Four years ago this spring, Birtukan Midekssa was in solitary confinement in an Ethiopian prison. Her cell was 13 feet wide and 20 feet long and had no window. She was allowed only two visitors: her elderly mother and her 3-year-old daughter.
Midekssa left Ethiopia in 2011, after two imprisonments that consumed 41 months of her life. She stayed first in Washington, D.C., and then at Stanford University. Today — grateful, happy, and energized — she has an office (with a window) at the W.E.B. Du Bois Institute, where she is a fellow this year. (A lawyer by training, Midekssa is also a Visiting Fellow with Harvard Law School’s Human Rights Program; starting in the fall she’ll pursue a one-year mid-career master’s degree in public administration through the Mason Program at Harvard Kennedy School.)
Most apt of all her local connections, perhaps, is her role as a Harvard Scholar at Risk. The program — based in New York, with dozens of affiliates at universities across the world — guarantees a year or more of refuge for scholars, writers, and scientists who in their native lands are under threat of death, imprisonment, or harassment.
“I was in prison because I spoke,” said Midekssa.
She was first sent to prison in 2005 — entering when her daughter Halley was 8 months old — and then again in 2008. Both times she was sentenced to life (the second time her original sentence was death). Both times Midekssa was pardoned because of pressure from international human rights groups. But she was ready to live her whole life in a cell. “I was being imprisoned for a right cause. What else could I do?” said Midekssa. “If you restrain your self-expression, you are left with what? Your diminished self.”
Midekssa had entered Ethiopia’s political arena in 2002 after serving nearly six years on that nation’s federal criminal bench. “Most of my years were full of challenge,” she said of being a judge — a struggle to “keep my independence and professional standards.” While she was on the bench, Ethiopian officials routinely tried to influence her decisions, she said. But she refused to go along, despite pressure that sometimes ratcheted up to threats of death. Her most notorious act of defiant honesty was to free a former defense minister, Siye Abraha, who’d been accused of corruption on dubious grounds, charges that had already cost him years in prison. (Abraha himself was in the Mason Program at Harvard Kennedy School, from 2011 to 2012.)
From girlhood, Midekssa had been enthralled by the idea that Ethiopia one day could be an open democracy, despite the fact that such a concept remained entirely theoretical during her early life. She was born in 1974, the last year of a dynasty of Ethiopian emperors that had started in the 13th century, and grew up in the capital city of Addis Ababa during a military dictatorship that lasted 17 years, ending when she was a senior in high school.
Before the next dictatorship took hold, Ethiopia enjoyed a brief Golden Age of open political discussion, said Midekssa. “Naturally, I aspired to see a country in which individual liberty is protected — in which nobody is killed for their views.”