2012 Courage in Journalism Award
Reeyot Alemu
A CRITICAL VOICE LOST TO ETHIOPIA’S WAR ON INFORMATION
Reeyot Alemu has been imprisoned in Ethiopia for more than a year, branded as a terrorist. She is one of many journalists who have been arrested, interrogated and threatened in her country. What makes Alemu exceptional are her commitment to work for independent media when the prospect of doing so became increasingly dangerous, her refusal to self-censor in a place where that practice is standard, and her unwillingness to apologize for truth-telling, even though contrition could win her freedom. In jail, Alemu was offered clemency if she agreed to testify against journalist colleagues. She refused and was sent to solitary confinement for 13 days as punishment for her failure to cooperate. She is currently being kept at Kality prison, which is known for its filthy conditions. Recently, she has fallen ill; in April of this year she underwent surgery at nearby hospital to remove a tumor from her breast, after which she was returned to jail with no recovery time. |
| Cover of Alemu's book titled "EPRDF's Red Pen", published in August 2012 |
Alemu is one in a number
of journalists who have been prosecuted under the vaguely worded and
broad-reaching anti-terrorism laws passed by the Ethiopian legislature in 2009.
The laws allow for the arrest of anyone thought to “encourage” parties labeled
as terrorists.
Under this law, Alemu
was sentenced to 14 years in prison and fined 33,000 birrs (about $1,850).
Prior to her arrest, she made less than $100 per month at her teaching job and
little more as a reporter. During her trial, government prosecutors presented
articles Alemu had written criticizing the prime minister, as well as telephone
conversations she had regarding peaceful protests, as evidence against her. In
August 2012, an appeals court subsequently reduced the 14-year prison sentence
to 5 years and dropped most of the terrorism charges against her.
The Ethiopian government
has effectively limited media coverage to topics friendly to the ruling EPRDF
(Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front), which holds more than 99%
of seats in parliament. It has done this through charges of treason and
terrorism levied against reporters and free media, public criticism of
journalists and passage of laws that punish sources of information about
opposition political parties and questions of human rights.
Alemu was willing to
risk her freedom to challenge the standard explanations, or failure to explain,
the systemic decay in her country. According to her friends and colleagues, she
thought she could make a difference in the trajectory of her people; she
thought her work might make things better. And now she has been silenced, like
so many others.
“She is a person who has
a bright vision for her country,” said a friend and former colleague based in
Addis. “But, she is in prison.”
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