Ethiopian Blogger Rearrested Over Comments on State of Emergency

Ethiopian police have re-arrested a blogger and human rights activist who criticized the government, especially its handling of the ongoing protests in the Oromia and Amhara regions.

Befeqadu Hailu, a member of the Zone9 blogging collective, is one of seven bloggers – one in absentia – and three independent journalists who were arrested in April last year. Three months after their arrest, all ten were charged with Ethiopia’s infamous Anti-Terrorism Proclamation.

Two police officers calling themselves security members of the command post established to implement Ethiopia’s current six-month state of emergency reportedly took Befeqadu from his house. He is now detained at a police station known as 06 in the capital, Addis Ababa.

A month ago when the government declared the state of emergency, he wrote on his blog, The Q Perspective, that he anticipated his arrest given the general description of the emergency. He feared for his life, for other activists, and journalists, as the declaration allows security forces to use their authority to detain people without a court order.

                                                        Befekadu hailu