Ethiopia: Editor released; 17-year-old son jailed

English PEN protests the detention without charge of 17-year-old Akram Ezedin, acting editor of the privately owned Islamic weekly newspaper Al-Quds. Ezedin was arrested on 11 September 2010 following the release of his father, Ezedin Mohamed, editor of Al-Quds, who was jailed in January for criticising statements made by Prime Minister Meles Zenawi. We believe that Ezedin’s arrest and imprisonment are in violation of his right to freedom of expression and are calling for his immediate and unconditional release.

Akram Ezedin took over the running of the Addis Ababa-based Al-Quds in January 2010 when his father Ezedin Mohamed, the newspaper’s publisher and editor, was sentenced to one year in prison. Mohamed was convicted for a 2008 column criticizing statements made by Prime Minister Meles Zenawi during an interview with the British newspaper The Guardian.

On 11 September 2010, Mohamed was released and Ezedin arrested, reportedly on the basis of articles critical of the performance of the Islamic Council or Mejilis of Afar region, published by Al-Quds in July. Ezedin is being held in a prison in Asaita, the regional capital of Afar. He has reportedly appeared in Afar’s court four times but has yet to be charged.

Pre-trial detention is illegal under Ethiopia’s Mass Media and Freedom of Information Proclamation. Moreover, as Al-Quds is a national newspaper, therefore any case against it should be heard in a federal not a state court.

For more information, please see the report by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) (29 October 2010):

Please send appeals:

- Protesting the arrest and detention without charge of 17-year-old Akram Ezedin following the release from prison of his father Ezedin Mohamed, editor of the privately owned Islamic weekly newspaper Al-Quds, on 11 September 2010;
- Pointing out that Ezedin’s detention is in violation of his right to freedom of expression protected under international human rights treaties to which Ethiopia is a party, including the United Nations International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights;
- Calling for Ezedin’s immediate and unconditional release.

Appeals to:

Minister of Justice
Berhanu Hailu
Ministry of Justice
P.O. Box 1370
Addis Ababa
Ethiopia
Fax: 251 11 551 7775/ 7755
Email: justice@telecom.net.et
ministry-justice@telecom.net.et
Salutation: Dear Minister

Minister of Foreign Affairs
Mr Seyoum Mesfin
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
PO Box 393
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Fax: 251 11 551 43 00  
Email: mfa.addis@telecom.net.et
Salutation: Dear Minister

Please also send a copy of your letter to your the Ethiopian diplomatic representative in the UK:
 
His Excellency Ambassador Berhanu Kebede
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
Embassy of Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia
17 Princes Gate
London
SW7 1PZ

Fax: 020 7838 3889
Email: ambassador@ethioembassy.org.uk