Eskinder Nega is serving an 18 year prison sentence for writing an article that posed the question: could an Arab Spring-like movement take place in Ethiopia? This is the eighth time in his 20 year career that he has been imprisoned simply for doing his job. If Eskinder’s conviction is not quashed. His seven year old son will be an adult before he is released.
Reeyot Alemu is a teacher and a freelance journalist, sentenced to 5 years in prison on trumped up charges of ‘terrorism’. She wrote about poverty, minority rights and mismanagement of funds on large government projects, including a hydroelectric dam. There is serious concern about her health and she has suffered from mistreatment while incarcerated. The prison authorities refuse visits with her fiancé and her sister. In 2013, whilst in prison, she received the World Press Freedom Award.