CAIRO: British Minister for Africa Henry Bellingham voiced his concern at the recent jailing of journalists and human rights activists in Ethiopia. He said he was “deeply concerned” by the court ruling that sent top bloggers and activists to jail under the country's anti-terrorism laws. “We believe that these sentences are disproportionate and that the breadth of application of the Anti-Terrorism Proclamation risks undermining freedom of expression and limiting political space in Ethiopia,” he said in a statement published by his office. “We remain ready to support Ethiopia in its efforts to combat terrorism. However, these efforts must take place while respecting universally recognised human rights norms. We have raised these concerns with the Ethiopian government at the highest level," Bellingham added. Award-winning blogger Eskinder Nega and others received 18-year terms. The others sentenced live in exile and were sentenced in absentia. “The court has given due considerations to the charges and the sentences are appropriate," presiding Judge Endeshaw Adane told a packed courtroom at the Lideta Federal High Court in the capital, Addis Ababa, as he issued sentences for 24 defendants, including the journalists, convicted of involvement in a vague terror plot, according to wire reports. The judge accused veteran journalist Eskinder of participating in a terrorist organization, planning a terrorist act, and “working with the Ginbot 7 organization," a U.S.-based opposition group that the Ethiopian government formally designated a terrorist entity in 2011. The judge also accused Eskinder of wanting to incite anti-government protests in Ethiopia with online articles discussing the Arab Spring. Authorities have detained Eskinder at least eight times during Meles Zenawi's two decades as prime minister, according to CPJ research. Exiled journalists Mesfin Negash and Abiye Teklemariam received eight years each based on accusations of making information about Ginbot 7 available to Ethiopians through their news website, Addis Neger Online. Abebe Gellaw of the U.S.-based Addis Voice and Abebe Belew of U.S.-based Internet radio station Addis Dimts were each sentenced in absentia to 15 years, and Fasil Yenealem got a life sentence, based on their activities with pro-opposition exiled broadcaster Ethiopian Satellite Television (ESAT), which government prosecutors described in court documents as “the voice of the terrorist organization Ginbot 7." All of the journalists have professed their innocence, according to news reports. Violations of fundamental principles of fairness, such as the presumption of innocence, undermined the credibility of the trial, according to legal experts and CPJ research.
