Zone 9 bloggers
The Zone 9 bloggers are a blogging collective from Ethiopia, who maintain a blog in Amharic. On 25 and 26 April 2014, the Ethiopian government arrested six members of the Zone 9 bloggers network and three other journalists, who faced terrorism charges for their writing at the time. The action had sparked an online protest.
They were additionally charged with conspiracy for using basic online encryption tools that journalists routinely use to protect their sources. The arrested bloggers and journalists received training in digital security from the Tactical Technology Collective / Front Line Defenders Security in a Box program.
Ethiopia's constitution explicitly protects freedom of speech and the right to privacy, yet the media is controlled by the government. Although the Internet is harder to censor than broadcast or print, the government has exercised control by jailing those who use the Internet to communicate critically about social or political issues in the country. There is only one Internet service provider in Ethiopia, Ethio telecom, and it is owned by the government. Also in 2012, Ethio telecom blocked access to the Tor network, which lets users browse the Internet anonymously and access blocked websites.
On 8 and 9 July 2015, five of the bloggers were released from prison and all charges against them were dropped.
In 2015, the Zone 9 bloggers were awarded the International Press Freedom Award from the Committee to Protect Journalists.
History
Zone 9 got its name from an Ethiopian state prison in Addis Ababa called commonly known as Kaliti maximum security prison, which has eight zones. The bloggers, who felt that Ethiopia was becoming a bigger prison, named themselves Zone9ers. The group's motto is "We Blog Because We Care."The arrest of the Zone 9 bloggers occurred on April 25, 2014, two days after they announced that they would resume blogging on the Zone 9 blog after a silence of nearly six months.
In November 2015, the Zone 9 bloggers were awarded the International Press Freedom Award from the Committee to Protect Journalists. Similarly, in November 2015 the collective was awarded Reporters Without Borders' Citizen Journalism Award. Furthermore, in October 2016, the group was nominated as one of the finalists of the 2016 Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders.
Works of the Zone 9 bloggers
As a collective focusing on human rights, good governance, education, social justice, corruption and non-violent social transformation, the works of the Zone 9 bloggers can be divided into the following:- Opinion pieces and feature articles focused on rule of law, constitutionality, economic, educational and cultural rights in Ethiopia. In these writings the bloggers have encouraged the citizens of Ethiopia, religious groups, ethnic leaders, opposition political groups and civic society groups to respect the constitution and end impunity in the country. As a part of this effort they have conducted four major online campaigns which demanded that the Ethiopian government respect the constitution.
- Documenting human rights abuses and violations of law by both state and non-state actors in the country. They reported on mistreatment of journalists and citizens by reporting on court hearings, trials, prisons and their experiences of Ethiopia. They have written on telecommunications services, education, environment and gender issues.
- Bringing the situation of Ethiopia's political prisoners to public attention. They visited political prisoners and published messages from them.
Arrests and charges
The six Zone 9 bloggers and the three journalists who are detained are:
- Befeqadu Hailu – a writer, activist, and blogger
- Mahlet Fantahun – a data expert in Government's Ministry of Health
- Atnaf Berahane – an IT professional in Addis Ababa city administration, a digital security expert and a blogger.
- Natnael Feleke – an employee of the Construction and Business Bank, an economist by profession and a passionate advocate of human rights
- Zelalem Kibret – a lecturer at Ambo University, a lawyer and a blogger
- Abel Wabela – an engineer at Ethiopian Airlines, an engineer and blogger
- Edom Khassay – a freelancer and an active member of the Ethiopian Environmental Journalists Association
- Tesfalem Waldyes – a freelancer for Addis Standard and other renowned media outlets
- Asmamaw Hailegeorgis – a journalist at Addis Guday newspaper
Timeline
April 2014: arrest
On 23 April 2014, the group announced on social media that they would be resuming their activities, following a temporary suspension of their activities due to increased harassment and surveillance by authorities. Two days later, on 25 April, 6 members of the group were arrested in what appeared to be a coordinated operation at their offices and in the street on the afternoon of 25 April 2014 by both uniformed and plain clothes policemen. All six people were first taken to their homes, which police searched and confiscated private laptops and literature. Freelance journalists Tesfalem Waldyes and Edom Kassaye were also arrested. On 26 April, Asmamaw Hailegiorgis was arrested.All 9 men and women were taken to the Federal Police Crime Investigation Center commonly known as Maekelawi police station, in Addis Ababa, where detainees are reported to be routinely subjected to coercive torture methods, unlawful interrogation tactics, and poor detention conditions.
April–June 2014: court hearings
All nine individuals were brought before a judge Criminal Bench at the Arada Federal First Instance Court without the presence of their legal counsel or family members. The court ordered that they should be remanded in custody. Befekadu Hailu, Mahlet Fantahun and Abel Wabela were remanded in custody until 8 May 2014 and the other detainees until 7 May 2014.Sources claim that the court record shows that the police requested remand for the detainees to obtain further evidence that they were "inciting chaos and violence through different websites pursuant to a plan to destabilize the country using social media by getting financial and intellectual support from a foreign force which calls itself a human rights defender". The name of the organisation is not specified. Such accusations have no lawful basis under Ethiopia's domestic criminal law and therefore conflict with Ethiopia's obligations under the African Charter and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
On 7 May, Atnaf Berhane, Zelalem Kibret, Natnael Feleke, Asmamaw Hailegiorgis, Tesfalem Waldyes and Edom Kassaye were brought before an Addis Ababa court. At the brief hearing, police requested more time for their investigation. On 8 May, Befekadu Hailu, Abel Wabela, and Mahlet Fantahun were brought before the same court. According to multiple reports, two of the bloggers claimed they were beaten. Police requested more time for their investigation. The next hearing for the three was scheduled to take place on 18 May 2014.
Both hearings were closed to the public, despite many attempts by diplomats and others to attend.
On 17 May, Atnaf Berahane, Zelalem Kibret, Natnael Feleke, Asmamaw Hailegiorgis, Tesfalem Waldyes and Edom Kassaye were brought before the same court for the third time in a row without apparent charge. Police requested and were granted an additional 28 days for further investigation into their suspected violations of the 2009 anti-terrorism law, which can carry sentences from 5–10 years. The next hearing was rescheduled to take place on 14 June 2014 at the same court. On 18 May, in a similar manner to the first group of bloggers the second group of bloggers were brought before the court for the third time. Police requested an additional 28 days for investigation but the court rejected the extended 28 days and asked the police to bring the detainees for the hearing on 1 June 2014, when they were brought before the court for the fourth time without apparent charge. The same court which rejected the extended 28 days request of the police two weeks earlier granted the police 28 days and the next hearing was scheduled for 29 June.
On 14 June, Atnaf Berahane, Zelalem Kibret, Natnael Feleke, Asmamaw Hailegeorgis, Tesfalem Waldyes and Edom Kassaye were brought before the court for the fourth time. Police requested and were granted an additional 28 days for investigation and the next hearing was set to be on 12 July 2014.
July 2014: charges
On 17 July, prosecutors for Ethiopia's Lideta High Court formally charged seven Zone 9 bloggers and affiliated independent journalists with having connections to the outlawed opposition political organization Ginbot 7, as well as the also outlawed Oromo Liberation Front rebel organization. The charges further allege that Natinael Feleke received a sum of 48,000 birr from Ginbot 7 for the purpose of inciting violence. The defendants had no legal representation present when the charges were issued, because their attorneys and families were not given prior notice about the hearing.During the last hearing there was an order to amend the terrorism charges. The reason was that the charges did not specify what acts of terrorism the bloggers and journalists were alleged to have performed. Despite the order, no amendment was made to the charges, but a new point was added accusing the bloggers of wanting to change the constitutional order by violence. The bloggers were also repeatedly mentioned together with Ginbot 7, an organization banned as a terrorist network. The bloggers had been openly critical to this group and had denied all association with them. Friends and families of the bloggers were allowed to attend the trial. Also, there seemed to have been a change for the better regarding visits of the female detainees, Mahlet Fantahun and Edom Kassaye. It was reported that they now were allowed to have visitors more frequently. The trial was adjourned for the thirteenth time, and the next hearing was to take place on 16 December 2014.