Update: Eskinder Nega is currently appealing his conviction and sentencing. On December 19, 2012, the Ethiopian Federal Supreme Court postponed hearing his appeal for the second time. The appeal hearing is scheduled to resume January 18, 2013. Please follow us on Twitter @freedomnoworg for breaking news.
Eskinder Nega, 43, is a prominent Ethiopian journalist who was convicted and sentenced to 18 years in prison on terrorism charges. Prior to his detention, Mr. Nega was a widely published independent journalist and a well-known critic of Prime Minister Meles Zenawi’s government. Mr. Nega is married and the father of one son.
Mr. Nega began his work as an independent journalist in 1993 when he founded the Ethiopis newspaper. While Ethiopis and many of the other publications where Mr. Nega later worked were banned, he continued to write articles criticizing the Ethiopian regime’s abuses of power.
As a result of his critical reporting, the government has detained Mr. Nega on eight different occasions. In 2005, authorities arrested Mr. Nega and his then-pregnant wife, Serkalem Fasil, who is herself an independent publisher, during a nationwide crackdown following the country’s disputed elections. Mr. Nega was charged with treason and genocide and detained for 17 months before Ethiopia’s High Court released him after a series of negotiations. After releasing Mr. Nega in 2007, the government blocked him from publishing in the country. However, Mr. Nega continued to contribute to online media outlets abroad.