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      Family: Ethiopian Winner of Press Freedom Prize Suffering in Prison

   by Marthe van der Wolf

   The family of Reeyot Alemu, this year's winner of the World Press
   Freedom Prize, says her situation in an Ethiopian prison is worsening
   by the day.

   Reeyot Alemu and Eskinder Nega are two of the best-known Ethiopian
   journalists imprisoned on charges of terrorism. UNESCO awarded Reeyot
   the 2013 World Press Freedom Prize for her exceptional courage,
   resistance and commitment to freedom of expression. But Reeyot's family
   and friends say she and her relatives are suffering.

   Reeyot's father and lawyer Alemu Gobebo says that Reeyot feels honored
   to win the prize.

   "As you know it is a prestigious prize," said Gobebo. "She was very
   glad, she was telling me that it is the international organization
   which is awarding me for my beliefs and fighting for freedom of speech
   and expression of thought. For that matter, this prize is good for
   her."

   Reeyot, 33,  was sentenced to 14 years of prison after being found
   guilty of conspiring to commit terrorist acts, money laundering and
   participation in a terrorist organization. Her sentence was reduced to
   five years after she appealed her conviction and two charges were
   dropped.

   Reeyot is imprisoned just outside the capital, Addis Ababa. On weekdays
   Reeyot's family can visit her for 10 minutes. On the weekends they get
   to spend half an hour with her. The imprisonment has had negative
   consequences for the whole family, says Reeyot's sister Eskeder Alemu.

   "Reeyot is the breadwinner of our family, so it has affected our family
   by losing her," she said. "And I stopped a job because somebody came to
   my office and told my bosses. They said she's Reeyot's sister, she is a
   terrorist sister so you have to fire her. Then they fired me."

   Reeyot's health is deteriorating, and she is suffering from a breast
   tumor, sinusitis and gastritis. Journalist Anania Sorri is a close
   friend of Reeyot who has been harassed himself many times for writing
   critical stories about the government's developmental state. He says
   that Reeyot is denied proper medical treatment while also being
   threatened with solitary confinement:

   "It is a current threatening instrument for the prison officials, they
   say that she has been violating some disciplinary kind of activities in
   the prison and that she has been releasing some kind of information
   about the prison situation to the foreign media," said Sorri.

   The U.S. State Department released a report last month criticizing
   Ethiopia's human rights record. International organizations such as
   Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch also accuse Ethiopia of
   using an anti-terrorism proclamation to silence dissident and critical
   voices. On Thursday, the appeal of prominent journalist Eskinder Nega
   was denied, meaning he has to serve his 18-year sentence.

   The State Minister in Ethiopia's Prime Minister's office, Getachew
   Redda, says the international criticism is not based on facts.

   "The government feels that this criticism are totally misplaced and
   mostly made without the proper understanding of the basic tenets of the
   anti-terror legislation," said Redda. "As a matter of fact, the
   anti-terror proclamation is copied from some of the advanced legal
   systems in the world. If you have journalists or opposition members who
   make it their business to be involved in terrorist activities, simply
   because they are journalists doesn't mean that they will be left free
   to mess with the security of the country."

   Reeyot has served one year and 10 months of her five-year sentence so
   far. There are six more journalists imprisoned today in Ethiopia.
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   [1]http://www.voanews.com/content/family-ethiopian-winner-of-press-free
   dom-prize-suffering-in-prison/1653357.html

References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/family-ethiopian-winner-of-press-freedom-prize-suffering-in-prison/1653357.html