An Ethiopian journalist branded a "terrorist" and currently
serving an 18-year prison sentence has been awarded the 2014 Golden Pen
of Freedom.
Eskinder Nega (pictured) has been jailed on at least seven
occasions in his country. On the latest occasion, he was locked up for
challenging the laws used against him and speculating that the Arab
Spring uprisings could be repeated in Ethiopia. He wrote on these
subjects despite already having had his journalism 'licence' taken away
from him.
According to a fellow Ethiopian prisoner, Nega "could have
chosen an easy life... but the love for the truth, for his country, for
his fellow human beings, and for Ethiopia, made him into a journalist".
The award, from the World Association of Newspapers and News
Publishers (WAN-IFRA), was presented today in Turin, Italy, during the
opening ceremonies of the 66th World Newspaper Congress, 21st World
Editors Forum and the 24th World Advertising Forum.
Presenting the award, World Editors Forum president Erik
Bjerager described Nega as a “tenacious writer who has called only for
peaceful change and reconciliation” portrayed by the Ethiopian
government as “a rabble-rouser bent on fomenting violent revolution”.
He said: “Without abatement, Ethiopia resorts to
anti-terrorism legislation to silence opposition and shackle the press.
Alarmingly, beyond Ethiopia, countless states around the world are
misapplying legislation designed to protect our societies to
journalists, bloggers and freedom of expression advocates. Let me be
clear: Journalism is not terrorism.”
In 2004, Nega’s newspapers, Asqual, Satenaw and Menelik,
were among 13 titles closed down following the elections in which the
ruling EPRDF party claimed a disputed victory.
Nega and his wife, journalist Serkalem Fasil, were among
other journalists, activists and opposition politicians charged with
treason. The pair spent 17 months in prison.
Following their release, Nega continued to write, despite
having lost his journalism ‘licence’, and was threatened with
imprisonment and the death penalty when the Arab Spring began in 2011.
Nega stood by his words, and speculated that the uprisings could spread
to his country.
Five days before his latest arrest, he wrote a column
calling on the government to stops sending dissenters to prison,
highlighting the conditions they face.
He returned to Kaliti prison on 14 September 2011.
Swedish journalist Martin Schibbye, another former prisoner
of the Ethiopian regime who was jailed alongside Nega for 11 months
between 2011 and 2012, accepted the journalist’s award for him.
He said: “We must remember that Eskinder Nega at many points
faced a choice. He is intelligent, well educated, he could have chosen
an easy life, he could have chosen another profession, but the love for
the truth, for his country, for his fellow human beings, and for
Ethiopia, made him into journalist.
“He stayed. And he continued to write.
“That decision brought him to the dark cells.
“Not one time. But nine. Nine.
“His stubbornness is demonstrating a brand of moral courage
that we need now more than ever. And courage is the only thing he is
guilty of.”
ድብድቡ የተፈጠረው በኢትዮጵያዊያንና በኤርትራዊያን መካከል ከሆነ ቦክሱን አለማቀፋዊ ይዘት የሚሰጠው ሲሆን ነገር ግን ሁሉም ኢትዮጵያዊያን ከሆኑ ብሔራዊ የቦክስ ውድድር ይሆናል። ተመልካቾቹ ወይም ቦክሰኞቹ በአራት ቋንቋዎች ማለትም በአማርኛ፣ በትግሪኛ፣ በደችና በእንግሊዘኛ ሞራልና ማበረታቻ ለቦክሰኞች የሰጡ ሲሆን አንዳንድ ቦክሰኞች ማንም ሳይነካቸው የተዘረሩ ሲሆን አንዳንዴ ደግሞ ተቃቅፈው አንዱ አንዱን እያባበለ ሲነርተው ያሳያል። በዚህ ውድድር ላይ ሴት እህቶቻችን ጨዋታው ደመቅ እንዲል ከወዲያ ወዲህ እያሉ ልክ የአሜርካው እግር ኳስ (football) ላይ እንዳሉ አድማቂ ሴቶች (cheerleaders) እንጣጥ እንጠር ሲሉ ተመልክቷል። የኛ ፍራቻ ይህ ትይንት ዘንድሮ ሳንሆዜ ላይ በሚደረገው የኢትዮጵያዊያን እግር ኳስ በአል ላይ እንዳይደገም ነው። መጣላቱን ይጣሉ ምነው ይህን እንስሳ የሆነ ጸባያቸውን ይዘው በጠራራ ፀሃይ የሰው አገር ላይ ያሳያሉ? አሰዳቢ ብቻ..ኤዲያ ለቃቅሞ ነበር ወደየ አገሩ መመለስ::
