Ethiopia has jailed 16 journalists - Rights group

Nairobi, Mar 15: Ethiopia jails more journalists than almost any other African country with 16 behind bars and most facing treason and genocide charges that could lead to the death penalty, a rights body said.

Julia Crawford, Africa program coordinator for the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), also said she feared the detained journalists might not get a fair trial.

Most were arrested in the aftermath of disputed elections in May 2005 when thousands of people were arrested and security forces killed around 80 people in two bouts of violence last June and November in Addis Ababa.

The violence was sparked by opposition protests and its claims that Prime Minister Meles Zenawi's government manipulated the poll, Authorities deny that.

''There are at least 16 journalists in jail for their work.

That makes Ethiopia one of the worst jailers of journalists in Africa in terms of numbers,'' Crawford told reporters in the Kenyan capital Nairobi after arriving from Addis Ababa.

She said 15 journalists were jailed in Eritrea.

Crawford, who met with Ethiopia's Prime Minister Meles Zenawi and four of the detained journalists, said Addis Ababa accuses the 16, who include a young pregnant girl of plotting with the opposition to overthrow the administration.

''We are deeply concerned that they might not get a fair trial,'' she said. ''The so-called evidence in the charge sheet is so thin.'' The CPJ quoted Meles as linking the detentions to bad government-opposition relations.

''We are aware that the poison is not merely between the press and the ruling party. It's a reflection of the overall tension between some in the opposition and the ruling party,'' the CPJ said he told them.

Due to government oppression, the number of newspapers in the capital has been reduced by half and journalists cannot freely work anymore in the city, Crawford said.

''Most of the editors have at least two or three charges hanging over them,'' she said.

''Fewer than 10 private newspapers can be found on the streets compared with more than 20 during the election period.'' Once hailed by the West as part of a new generation of progressive African leaders, Meles' reputation has dimmed since the violence last year. He says he has been forced to take measures to prevent plots to overthrow him.

Reuters