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From: Biniam Tekle (biniamt@dehai.org)
Date: Wed Sep 07 2011 - 13:25:33 EDT
http://www.capitalfm.co.ke/news/2011/09/07/ethiopia-charges-swedish-journalists-with-terrorism/
Ethiopia charges Swedish journalists with terrorismPosted by AGENCE FRANCE
PRESSE on September 7, 2011
ADDIS ABABA, Sep 7 – Ethiopia charged two Swedish journalists with terrorism
on Wednesday, the first formal charges levelled against them since their
July 1 arrest near Ethiopia’s border with Somalia.
“The two journalists are accused of being engaged in a terrorist activity in
violation of the new anti-terrorism statute of Ethiopia,” said Ethiopian
government spokesman Shimeles Kemal.
Photographer Johan Persson and reporter Martin Schibbye, both freelancers,
have been held in jail since they were arrested with Ogaden National
Liberation Front (ONLF) rebels, who are opposed to the Ethiopian government.
Fighting broke out between the rebels and Ethiopian troops, killing 15 and
injuring six, including the journalists, who suffered gunshot wounds.
Sweden said they were worried about the charges against the pair.
“The two journalists were on spot on a journalistic mission and we have not
had reason to question their claim,” Swedish foreign ministry spokesperson
Anders Jorle told AFP by telephone from Stockholm.
“It is worrying us that the case has been brought to a charge against the
journalists.”
The Swedes are also accused of abetting a terrorist group and entering the
country illegally from Somalia without permission, Shimeles said.
“They are accused of abetting and rendering professional assistance to
terrorists,” he said.
“The third count relates to their entering into a sovereign state without a
valid visa or lawful permission.”
The Swedes who appeared in court on Tuesday in Addis Ababa with two
Ethiopians accused of being members of the ONLF, who were also charged with
terrorist offences.
During the hearing, the public prosecutor showed the court video footage he
said showed the Swedes receiving weapons training from ONLF gunmen.
The maximum sentence for commissioning or planning terrorist activities
under Ethiopian law is life in prison.
International press freedom watchdogs have condemned the arrests of the
journalists.
Since its formation in 1984, the ONLF has been fighting for the independence
of the remote southeastern Ogaden, which is populated mainly by ethnic
Somalis and has been marginalised by the Addis Ababa regime.
Ethiopia last month arrested 31 people, including prominent opposition party
members, on terrorism-related charges and being members of the Oromo
Liberation Front (OLF), another rebel group battling the government.
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