A prominent Ethiopian journalist and blogger has
been sentenced to 18 years in jail for violating the country's
anti-terrorism legislation.
Eskinder Nega and 23 others were found guilty last month.
They were accused of links with US-based opposition group Ginbot Seven, which Ethiopia considers a terrorist organisation.
Opposition activist Andualem Arage was given a life sentence by the court in the capital, Addis Ababa.
In May, Eskinder was awarded the prestigious Pen America's Freedom to Write annual prize for his work.
Human rights groups have criticised Ethiopia's anti-terrorism legislation for being too far-reaching.
Courtroom packed
"The
court has given due considerations to the charges and the sentences are
appropriate," Reuters news agency quotes Judge Endeshaw Adane as
saying.
Eskinder and Andualem, a member of the opposition Unity
for Democracy and Justice party, were in court on Friday to hear their
sentence - 16 members of the group found guilty in June are in exile,
AFP news agency reports.
The two men waved to family members as
they walked into the courtroom which was filled with friends and family
of the activists, as well as journalists and diplomats, the agency says.
Eskinder
was arrested last September after publishing an article questioning
arrests under the anti-terrorism legislation, especially that of
well-known Ethiopian actor and government critic Debebe Eshetu.
In
1993 Eskinder opened his first newspaper and has been detained at least
seven times by the government of Prime Minister Meles Zenawi.
Right group Amnesty International said the trial fell short of international standards.
"The
imprisonment… is emblematic of the Ethiopian government's determination
to gag any dissenting voice in the country," Amnesty's Ethiopia
researcher Claire Beston said in a statement.
"The Ethiopian
government is treating calls for peaceful protest as a terrorist act and
is outlawing the legitimate activity of journalists and opposition
members."
An Ethiopian guard working for the UN was jailed for
seven years for communicating with the banned Ogaden National Liberation
Front (ONLF) in June.
In December, two Swedish journalists were sentenced to 11 years in prison for supporting the ONLF.
Both
the ONLF, which has been fighting for greater independence in the
Ogaden area that borders Somalia, and Ginbot Seven, have been designated
as terrorist groups by the Ethiopian parliament.
http://m.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-18825538
