Zone 9 bloggers
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On April 25 and 26 Ethiopian government arrested 6 members of the Zone9 bloggers and 3 other journalists.The arrest of the bloggers occurred after two days of Zone9 bloggers announcement of returning to blogging after being absent for nearly 6 month in their blog page.[1][2]
History
The group which is known as Zone9 got their name after one of the state prisons in Ethiopia named Kalitiy that is compartmentalized to 8 zones. young bloggers who had been feeling Ethiopia is a bigger prison, called themselves Zone9ners. The six member of Zone9 bloggers and 3 journalists who are detained are listed below[3][4]
- Befeqadu Hailu former employee of St. Mary’s University College, writer activist and bloggers
- Mahlet Fantahun Data Expert in government ministry of health
- Atnaf Berahane IT professional in Addis Abeba city administration, Digital security expert ad blogger.
- Natnael Feleke an employee of the Construction and Business Bank, economist by profession and passionate for human rights
- Zelalem Kiberet a lecturer at Ambo University, lawyer and blogger
- Abel Wabela engineer at Ethiopian Airlines, engineer by profession and blogger
- Edom Khassay a freelancer and an active member of the Ethiopian Environmental Journalists Association (EEJA)
- Tesfalem Waldyes freelancer for Addis Standard and many more renowned media outlates
- Asmamaw Hailegeorgis of Addis Guday newspaper
The group is widely known with their blog under the motto: “we blog because we care.”
June 2014
On the 14th
Atnaf Berahane, Zelalem Kibret, Natnael Feleke, Asmamaw Hailegeorgis, Tesfalem Waldyes and Edom Kassaye were brought before the court for the fourth time. Police requested another additional 28 days again. The court granted an additional 28 days of investigation. The next hearing is set to be on July 12, 2014.
On the 1st
Befekadu Hailu, Abel Wabela and Mahlet Fantahun brought before the court for the fourth time again without apparent charge. The same court which rejected the extended 28 days request of the police two weeks earlier granted the police 28 days and the next hearing will be on June 29.
May 2014
On the 18th
In similar manner to the first group of bloggers the second group of bloggers namely Befekadu Hailu, Abel Wabela and Mahlet Fantahun brought before the court for the third time. Police requested additional 28 days for investigation but the court rejected the extended 28 days and asked the police to bring the detainees for the hearing on June 1, 2014.
On the 17th
Atnaf Berahane, Zelalem Kibret, Natnael Feleke, Asmamaw Hailegiorgis, Tesfalem Waldyes and Edom Kassaye brought before the same court for the third time in a row without apparent charge. Again police requested additional 28 days for further investigation. In an apparent shift from earlier accusations police claimed the detainees are investigated with terrorism related charges. The court granted additional 28 days for investigation.The next hearing was rescheduled to take place on June 14, 2014 at the same court.
On the 8th
Befekadu Hailu, Abel Wabela, and Mahlet Fantahun were brought before the same court. According to multiple reports, two of the bloggers claimed they were beaten. Police requested more time for their investigation. The next hearing for the three is scheduled to take place on May 18, 2014.
Both hearings were closed to the public, despite many attempts by diplomats and others to attend.
On the 7th
Atnaf Berhane, Zelalem Kibret, Natnael Feleke, Asmamaw Hailegiorgis, Tesfalem Waldyes and Edom Kassaye were brought before an Addis Ababa court. At the brief hearing, police requested more time for their investigation. The next hearing for the six is scheduled to take place on May 17, 2014.
April 2014
On the 27th
All nine individuals were brought before a judge Criminal Bench at the Arada Federal First Instance Court without the presence of their legal counsel or family members. The court ordered that they should be remanded in custody. Befekadu Hailu, Mahlet Fantahun and Abel Wabela were remanded in custody until May 8, 2014 and the other detainees until May 7, 2014. According to reliable sources, the court record shows that the police requested remand for the detainees to obtain further evidence that they were “inciting chaos and violence through different websites pursuant to a plan to destabilise the country using social media by getting financial and intellectual support from a foreign force which calls itself a human rights defender”. The name of the organisation is not specified.
On the 26th
Asmamaw Hailegiorgis was arrested. All nine men and women were taken to Maekelawi prison, a Federal detention centre in Addis Ababa, where detainees are widely reported to be routinely subject to coercive torture methods.
On the 25th
The six bloggers and human rights defenders from Zone9 were arrested at their offices and in the street on the afternoon of April 25, 2014 by both uniformed and plainclothes policemen. All six were first taken to their homes, where police conducted searches and confiscated private laptops and literature. Freelance journalists Tesfalem Waldyes and Edom Kassaye were also arrested.
On the 23rd
Facing increasing harassment and surveillance by the authorities, the Zone9 bloggers had temporarily suspended their activities over the last six months. The group announced on April 23, 2014 on social media that they were resuming their activities.
References
- ^ "Ethiopia: Arrests Upstage Kerry Visit". http://www.hrw.org/.
{{cite web}}: External link in|website= - ^ "Ethiopia Detains Bloggers and Journalists". Aljazeera.
- ^ "Ethiopia Detains Several Bloggers and Journalists". http://addisstandard.com/.
{{cite web}}: External link in|website=|url=(help) - ^ "Ethiopia Detains Bloggers". Aljazeera. Retrieved 30 June 2014.
- ^ "Trial Tracker". http://trialtrackerblog.org/press/.
{{cite web}}: External link in|website= - ^ "Articles about Zone9". Addis Standard.