Oromia Shall Be Free!

Journalist Eskinder Nega and Opposition leader Andualem Aragie arrested Ethiomedia | September 14, 2011 Eskinder Nega Andualem Aragie ADDIS ABABA - Security men on Wednesday arrested prominent Ethiopian journalist Eskinder Nega and opposition party leader Andualem Aragie.They were both taken to Makelawi Prison in handcuffs at different times in the afternoon, witnessed said. Eskinder and Andualem were earlier around 8:30 am seen conversing over coffee with two other UDJ members at a cafeteria near the opposition party's headquarters, a UDJ press release reported. Acclaimed as a widely read journalist whose weekly columns appear on Ethiomedia.com on Fridays, Eskinder has been writing articles critical of the government of Prime Minister Meles Zenawi whose high-handed rule has often been denounced by Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, among others.Andualem, a young, charismatic opposition leader whose oratorical skills shot him to prominence in the run-up to the overwhelmingly-rigged 2010 elections, had served nearly two years in prison following the ill-fated 2005 elections in which security forces killed at least 193 protesters. Eskinder Nega, whose courage and unbending spirit is the envy of every opposition leader who would like to beat brutal thugs hands down, was also a prison inmate during the 2005 nationwide crackdown that led to the shutting down of the independent press, including three newspapers that Eskinder used to edit. He was held in solitary confinement for several months, and bears a dislocated shoulder due to torture. He is the husband of award-winning journalist Serkalem Fassil. The government has targetted prominent journalists and opposition leaders as a pre-emptive strike at what observers say fears of public unrest due to an economic crisis compounded by an inflation that has soared over 40 percent in recent weeks. Earlier last week, police arrested Debebe Eshetu, a veteran actor and opposition activist, and charged him under a new anti-terror law for having alleged ties to Ginbot Sebat, an opposition group outlawed in Ethiopia. Two opposition party officials and two journalists were also arrested under the anti-terror law, which human rights groups say is a smokescreen the government uses to crush dissent. Ethiomedia.com - An African-American news and views website. Copyright 2010 Ethiomedia.com. Email: editor@ethiomedia.com

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