Twenty Ethiopians, including a prominent blogger, journalists and opposition figures were jailed for between eight years to life on Friday on charges of conspiring with rebels to topple the government.
The European Union's foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said she was "seriously concerned" by the severity of the sentences, which were also condemned by Amnesty International and other rights groups.
The Horn of Africa nation, a major recipient of Western aid, is fighting separatist rebel movements and armed groups it says are backed by arch-foe Eritrea.
But rights groups say Ethiopia, sandwiched between volatile Somalia and Sudan, regularly uses security concerns as an excuse to crack down on dissent and media freedoms.
The Addis Ababa government, a key ally in Washington's campaign against Islamist militants in Somalia, denies the charge. No one was immediately available to comment on Friday.
Blogger and journalist Eskinder Nega, who was arrested last year and accused of trying to incite violence with a series of online articles, was jailed for 18 years. Full story...
Related posts:
The European Union's foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said she was "seriously concerned" by the severity of the sentences, which were also condemned by Amnesty International and other rights groups.
The Horn of Africa nation, a major recipient of Western aid, is fighting separatist rebel movements and armed groups it says are backed by arch-foe Eritrea.
But rights groups say Ethiopia, sandwiched between volatile Somalia and Sudan, regularly uses security concerns as an excuse to crack down on dissent and media freedoms.
The Addis Ababa government, a key ally in Washington's campaign against Islamist militants in Somalia, denies the charge. No one was immediately available to comment on Friday.
Blogger and journalist Eskinder Nega, who was arrested last year and accused of trying to incite violence with a series of online articles, was jailed for 18 years. Full story...
Related posts:
- Ethiopian blogger found guilty of "terrorist" links...
- In Ethiopia, aid is used as "a weapon of oppression."
- Ethiopia 'forcibly displacing' tens of thousands to make way for...
- Ethiopians chased from homes as corporations go on a land-grabbing spree...
- Press freedom index 2011: no Asian country in the first twenty...
No comments:
Post a Comment