VIENNA
– An Ethiopian court this week delayed proceedings for an 11th time against six
bloggers and three independent journalists, who were arrested in April in
connection with their activities as part of the Zone 9 collective.
The
court at a hearing on Tuesday adjourned the case until Nov. 12, 2014. The nine
defendants, who were arrested in Addis Ababa on April 25 and 26, have now been
in pre-trial detention for over six months.
The
bloggers and journalists are being held on charges of alleged terrorism and
inciting violence as a result of their contact with foreign human rights
organisations and opposition political parties. They are being prosecuted under
Ethiopia’s controversial, 2009 anti-terrorism law.
After a
joint mission to Ethiopia with the World Association of Newspapers and News
Publishers (WAN-IFRA) last
year, IPI called on Ethiopian
authorities to release all journalists convicted under the legislation and
urged that the law be amended in a way that does not inhibit constitutionally
guaranteed freedom of expression rights.
IPI
Senior Press Freedom Adviser Steven M. Ellis said: “The Zone 9 case not only
illustrates the stifling press environment in Ethiopia, but the severely
impeded judicial proceedings in this case also interfere with the defendants’
due process rights.”
The
Zone 9 Trial Tracker blog calls the 11th delay a “record” in a case that has
been stalled since the April arrests and marked by repeated delays.
The
first delays were a result of police requests for more time to conduct
investigations. The defendants were not formally charged until July 17, when
they were brought to the Lideta High Court for a hearing without legal
representation. When they refused to be tried without a lawyer, the case was
adjourned until the next morning. At a July 18 hearing, the trial was adjourned
until Aug. 4.
The
Trial Tracker blog reported that at Tuesday’s hearing there was confusion
regarding changes in the courtroom venue. The blog said that the hearing was
pushed back as a result of two presiding judges in the case being replaced with
new judges, who were unprepared to make a ruling.
Before
last year’s joint IPI/WAN-IFRA mission, African Union Special Rapporteur on
Freedom of Expression and Access to Information Pansy Tlakula told IPI:
“[F]ollowing the 2005 general elections in Ethiopia, freedom of expression and
media freedom [have] been continuously deteriorating.”
In a
report released on Jan. 14 following the mission, IPI said that Ethiopia’s use
of sweeping anti-terrorism law to imprison journalists and other legislative
restrictions were hindering the development of free and independent media in
the country.
http://www.dagmawitewodros.net/2014/11/zone-9-case-sees-11th-court-delay.html#Ethiopia
