A radio station in Dire Dawa, northeastern Ethiopia on February 26, 2013 (AFP Photo/Jenny Vaughan)
Addis Ababa (AFP) - Six
Ethiopian journalists and bloggers accused of "serious crimes" appeared
in court for the first time on Wednesday in a case that has been
condemned internationally as an assault on press freedom.
None have yet
been charged, defence lawyer Amaha Mekonen said, adding that the court
in Addis Ababa had lifted a ban on the detainees speaking to the outside
world, including lawyers and family.
On
April 25 and 26, six members of the blogging collective Zone Nine and
three journalists were arrested by police, with the government saying
they were being investigated for "serious crimes", without elaborating.
Police requested more time to investigate computers seized from the detainees, Amaha said.
The
arrests prompted an outcry from rights groups, with the Committee to
Protect Journalists (CPJ) calling them "one of the worst crackdowns
against free expression" in the country, while Amnesty International
said it was part of a "long trend of arrests and harassment of human
rights defenders."
Ethiopia has one of the most closed press
environments in the world, the CPJ says, with at least 49 journalists
forced into exile -- a figure only beaten by Iran and Somalia.
Ethiopia
has also been accused of cracking down on independent media and doling
out heavy sentences for journalists under controversial anti-terror
legislation.
The six in court Wednesday will next appear in court again on May 17. The remaining three are due in court on Thursday.
"It
is the court’s responsibility to follow up with the police as to
whether the detainees are being treated respectfully," Amaha said.
US
Secretary of State John Kerry urged Ethiopia to allow greater freedoms
for civil society and journalists, during a visit last week, expressing
concern for the group.
UN human rights chief Navi Pillay has
condemned the arrests, warning the country is increasingly muzzling
freedom of expression under the guise of fighting terrorism.
Journalists, friends and families of the detainees, as well as foreign diplomats, crowded the court compound on Wednesday.
The
three journalists are Tesfalem Waldyes, who writes for the weekly
English-language business newspaper Fortune, Asmamaw Hailegiorgis, an
editor at the Amharic-langauge magazine Addis Guday, and Edom Kassaye,
who worked previously for the daily Addis Zemen newspaper.
The
bloggers are Zelalem Kibret, a university lecturer, Atnaf Berhane, a
computer professional, and Natnail Feleke, an economist.
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