The bloggers’ Zone 9 website, reportedly named after the prison where political detainees are held, listed the names of nine people arrested, saying they were charged with having worked with foreign human rights activists to foment violence or instability.

#BBCtrending: Jailed bloggers spark Ethiopia trend

By BBC Trending

Just when US Secretary of State John Kerry visits Ethiopia, six of the nation’s leading bloggers have been arrested.

April 30, 2014 (BBC Trending) — On Friday afternoon at 5pm Addis Ababa time, the mobile phones and inboxes of nine Ethiopian bloggers began to beep and vibrate with frantic messages. One of the members of social media activist group Zone 9 had been arrested – and others were being warned. But the alerts came too late and by the next day, five more bloggers and three journalists had been arrested All nine are in custody whilst police investigate allegations that the individuals have been working with foreign organizations, rights activists, and “using social media to destabilise the country”.

The arrests highlight the highly political role social media now plays in Ethiopia. Officially a democracy, human rights groups have repeatedly complained about the lack of press freedom there. Most of the TV and radio stations are state run. Because of this, the opposition and activists, including those based abroad, have come to dominate social media conversation in the country.

As you’d expect, then, since the arrests a protest hashtag, #Freezone9bloggers, has been tweeted over eight thousand times. Respectable by international standards, but a top trend in a country where the internet is estimated to reach just over 1% of the population. The Zone 9 bloggers began writing together two years ago and they use the platform to criticize the government, accusing it of human rights abuses and building poor infrastructure for example.

Paul Brown from BBC Monitoring says that the crackdown seems to be a response to a statement from the group posted on 23 April on Facebook. Zone 9 wrote that they would resume their blogging after several months of inactivity. He says that the arrests “suggest that the government is taking online activism seriously – probably because elections are due next year.” The Ethiopian government has not responded to BBC Trending’s invitations to comment but Getachew Reda, an advisor to Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn, told Reuters that these arrests “have nothing to do with journalism but serious criminal activities”. The arrests come just days before the scheduled visit of US Secretary of State John Kerry, which is now set to take place today.

Source: BBC Trending

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Ethiopia says journalists arrested in ‘criminal’ crackdown

Ethiopia arrested several people identified by rights groups as journalists and bloggers in a crackdown against free speech. (File photo: Reuters)

April 30, 2014 (AFP) — Ethiopia said Tuesday they had arrested several people accused of “serious criminal activities,” but who rights groups said were journalists and bloggers detained in a sweeping crackdown against free speech.

“They are suspected of some serious crimes, and the police are investigating the case,” government spokesman Getachew Reda told AFP, without providing details of their alleged crimes.

The journalists and a group of bloggers known as “Zone 9” were arrested last week, prompting an outcry from rights groups.

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) called the arrests “one of the worst crackdowns against free expression” in the country, while Amnesty International said it was part of a “long trend of arrests and harassment of human rights defenders, activists, journalists and political opponents.”

Leslie Lefkow of Human Rights Watch said the “arrests signal, once again, that anyone who criticizes the Ethiopian government will be silenced,” and called for their immediate release.

The bloggers’ Zone 9 website, reportedly named after the prison where political detainees are held, listed the names of nine people arrested, saying they were charged with having worked with foreign human rights activists to foment violence or instability.

But the government dismissed the rights groups, and said those arrested were not detained for their work as journalists.

“We don’t take orders from Human Rights Watch,” Getachew said.

An opposition group staged a protest on Sunday following the arrests, calling for “greater liberties and a true democracy” in Ethiopia, but police shut the 200-person demonstration down soon after it started.

HRW said 20 members of the political opposition Semayawi or “Blue” party have also been arrested since Friday, although there has been no official confirmation of exact numbers.

Source: AFP