Many Ethiopian editors have numerous press law charges pending against them. Prime Minister Meles Zenawi told a CPJ delegation in March that the government had decided several years ago not to prosecute under the press law, and that this was still government policy. This is despite CPJ documentation to the contrary. He said he was not aware that cases had been reactivated, and that he would look into the matter.
“The crackdown is clearly continuing, and the revival of old charges against journalists is part of that pattern,” said CPJ executive director Ann Cooper. “We call on Prime Minister Meles Zenawi to order an investigation into these charges which contradict his stated policy.”
Gebrekidan was given the 16-month sentence for a 2002 article which allegedly defamed the editor of Abyotawi Democracy, a publication of the ruling Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF). The piece appeared in the Amharic language weekly Ethiop, of which he was editor at the time.
Reta, who freelanced for a number of different Amharic-language newspapers, was also jailed on an old charge. CPJ is still investigating the details of the case.
