admin | July 27, 2015
Journalist Reeyot Alemu and five individuals in the Zone 9 bloggers case were released from prison last week. The Zone 9 bloggers are a group from Ethiopia who maintain a blog in Amharic. Mr. Reeyot, three journalists, and two bloggers were freed ahead of a scheduled trip to the country by U.S. President Barack Obama.
Steven M. Ellis is the International Press Institute’s Director of Advocacy and Communications. He says: “We are extremely pleased that these prisoners of conscience have been released, but it is only a small step in the right direction. We call on the Ethiopian government to immediately free all the other journalists imprisoned for their work.”
According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, at least 11 other journalists remain in prison in Ethiopia.
To read the full article, go to: https://www.ifex.org/ethiopia/2015/07/10/journalists_released/
Photo: Members of Zone 9 before the arrests. Left to right: Endalk Chala, Soliyana Shemeles, Natnael Feleke, Abel Wabela, Befeqadu Hailu, Mahlet Fantahun, Zelalem Kibret, Atnaf Birahane, Jomanex Kassaye. Credit: Endalk Chala