Ethiopian Zone 9 bloggers cleared of terrorism charges

On Friday, judges in a court in Ethiopia’s capital, Addis Ababa, decided that for those still imprisoned, “the documents presented by the prosecutor were not sufficient to prove the alleged terrorism”, said Ameha Mekonnen, a defense lawyer in the case. Never mind that fact that these bloggers – part of a group known as the Zone 9 bloggers – already spent 539 days in prison and had 39 court hearings.

Four Ethiopian bloggers and journalists were acquitted of terrorism Friday after 18 months in jail, a case widely condemned by rights groups as an assault on press freedom.

The decision means that terror charges have been dropped against all nine of the so-called Zone 9 bloggers, after five were cleared and released in July. A fifth Zone 9 blogger, Befekadu Hailu, was acquitted of terrorism charges but is being held on charges of inciting violence, the reports said. Ameha said although the terrorism charges against him were dropped, he still faces charges of incitement.

The bloggers were arrested in April 2014, and were accused of planning attacks and cooperating with a U.S.-based opposition group called Ginbot 7 that has been designated as a terrorist group by the Ethiopian authorities, according to the BBC.

“They spent a year and six months in prison for doing nothing, we spent a year and three months [in prison] for nothing”, Waldyes added. “This absurd, this whole thing is absurd”.

Tom Rhodes from the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), which lists Ethiopia as the “second-worst jailer of journalists in Africa”, said he was “jubilant”.

The issue of press repressions is not new in Ethiopia.

Jeff Smith, the Africa Specialist for the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Human Rights, told a SaharaReporters correspondent that “this is a great day for political freedom”.