De Birhan
According to local media reports in Addis Abeba seven bloggers of the famous http://zone9ethio.blogspot.ie/ and three other journalists detained over the weekend had appeared before the Arada First Instance Court First Bench on Sunday April 27, 2014.
Charges were read to them which reportedly read as “they have been apprehended after being found while attempting to destabilize the country by conspiring and cooperating both “ideally and financially” with a foreign based self proclaimed rights organisation by using the social media.”
Their cases have been adjourned to May 7th and 8th, 2014.
Similarly, Human Rights Watch (HRW) has released a report today calling for the immediate release of the bloggers and journalists.
HRW on its report also called John Kerry, the U.S. Secretary of State to press for the release of the journos and bloggers as he visits Ethiopia,
United States Secretary of State John Kerry, who is scheduled to visit Ethiopia beginning April 29, should urge Ethiopian officials to unconditionally release all activists and journalists who have been arbitrarily detained or convicted in unfair trials, Human Rights Watch said. The arrests also came days before Ethiopia is scheduled to have its human rights record assessed at the United Nations Human Rights Council’s universal periodic review in Geneva on May 6.
Read the whole report HERE.
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