An Ethiopian court on Tuesday sentenced two Swedish journalists to 11 years in jail for supporting terrorism and entering the country illegally. “The sentence should be punishment of 11 years imprisonment,” Judge Shemsu Sirgaga told the court in the Amharic language through a translator. “This sentence should satisfy the goal of peace and security,” he added. Reporter Martin Schibbye and photographer Johan Persson were arrested in Ethiopia’s Ogaden region on July 1 in the company of rebels from the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) after entering Ethiopia from Somalia.
The conviction attracted a barrage of criticism from rights groups and Sweden. Both journalists admitted contact with the ONLF and to entering Ethiopia illegally, but rejected terrorism charges including accusations they had received weapons training. Following their conviction, Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt said Schibbye and Persson were innocent and should be set free.
The unjust prison sentence of Swedish Journalists, Martin Schibbye and Johan Persson is an evidence of the nature of Addis Ababa regime as a terror regime, which do not respect Human Rights, and freedom of press. By sentencing these innocent two journalists the Ethiopian regime headed by Meles Zenawi has blatantly violated article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which states that ”Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference, and impart information and ideas through any media regardless of frontiers”. Martin Schibbye and Johan Persson are prisoners of conscience and must be supported by the international community. Journalists all over the world cross frontiers in order to report all sides of a story. The journalists went there without the permission of Addis Ababa due to the illegal blockade of Ogaden.
.This is crime against humanity not only against the two brave journalists Martin Schibbye and Johan Persson.
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