The members of the International Press Institute (IPI), meeting at their 61st Annual General Assembly during the IPI World Congress on 23 June 2012 in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, adopted by unanimous vote a resolution calling on the Ethiopian government to stop the use of anti-terror laws to jail journalists for doing their job and to respect freedom of the press.

IPI members noted an appalling deterioration of press freedom and freedom of expression in Ethiopia over the past year during which five journalists have been convicted of terrorism-related crimes.

The verdict in the trial of Eskinder Nega, an online writer and critic of the Ethiopian government, was expected on June 27, 2012. Nega was arrested in September 2011 and jailed after having criticised the use of anti-terrorism laws to jail journalists and opposition figures. He is accused of a range of terrorism-related crimes for which he could face the death penalty.

Other journalists already convicted of terrorism within the last year include: Woubshet Taye, deputy editor of the now-defunct Awramba Times, and Reyot Alemu of Feteh newspaper, who were sentenced to 14 years in prison in January 2012. The U.S. – based editor of the Ethiopian Review website, Elias Kifle, who had been tried in absentia, was given a life sentence. All three were convicted of conspiracy to commit acts of terrorism, and of money laundering. The evidence presented against them was largely related to their online writings and calls for peaceful protest, according to human rights groups.

In December 2011, Swedish journalists Martin Schibbye and Johann Persson were sentenced to 11 years in prison for aiding terrorists. They were arrested while travelling with insurgents in the Ogaden region.

Journalists covering the recent terrorism trials have also been harassed. In late April, Temesgen Desalegn, the chief editor of Feteh newspaper, was found guilty of “biased reporting” and fined after publishing an op-ed article by an opposition politician.

Pointing out that dissent and criticism of the authorities cannot be equated with terrorism and that journalists should not be prosecuted under Anti-Terror legislation, IPI members called for the immediate and unconditional release of journalists jailed under terrorism laws in Ethiopia.

The World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA), with which IPI has a co-operation agreement, fully supports this resolution.