From: IFJ
The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) today backed a call by its affiliate in Somalia,
the National Union of Somali Journalists, to the Prime Minister of
Ethiopia Hailemariam Desalegn to free Somali journalist, Mohamed Aweys
Mudey, found guilty under Ethiopia’s notoriously harsh anti-terror laws and sentenced to 27 years in jail.
The call was made on the occasion of a summit of
the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) in Kampala,
Uganda, which is attended by presidents and prime ministers from eight
member states in East Africa.
The Prime Minister was sent by NUSOJ a petition
signed by 24,000 supporters including journalists, writers and press
freedom and human rights activists from 97 countries. Launched by NUSOJ,
the petition, calling for the “immediate and unconditional release of
Mudey,” received massive support in a matter of days, after being
promoted by freedom of expression organisation IFEX and by the African
Freedom of Expression exchange (AFEX).
"The petition was a major success for our union in
Somalia which managed to motivate tens of thousands of people in
support of Mohamed Mudey, said IFJ President Jim Boumelha. “It is
heartening to see a small union taking up the cudgels in defence of one
of their members against an authoritarian regime. I urge all our unions
with members unjustly jailed to follow the lead of NUSOJ and join the
IFJ campaigns to free journalists in prison."
NUSOJ Secretary General, Omar Faruk Osman,
thanked all the organisations and activists who expressed solidarity
with Mudey and said: “My union is overwhelmed by such a massive reaction
from all over the world rejecting the charges and condemning the guilty
verdict as well as the harsh sentence. Mohamed Aweys Mudey is not
guilty of any crime.
“He has been persecuted and unjustly jailed
because he is a journalist and he is a Somali. Ethiopian authorities
should listen to the calls of these thousands of people and free Mudey”. NUSOJ’s campaigns for the right of Somali
journalists received a boost after the African Commission on Human &
People’s Rights (ACHPR), Africa’s top inter-governmental human rights
body, agreed during its extraordinary session on 7-14 March, resolution
264 on attacks of journalists and media practitioners in Somalia.
The commission
expressed concern “about the restrictions and intimidations against
NUSOJ such as negative labelling, prosecution as well as physical
harassment and intimidation of its members” and appealed for them to be
ceased immediately. It also called on “the Somali authorities
to respect, protect and promote the right to life, freedom of expression
and freedom of association and assembly of journalists and media
practitioners as provided in the African Charter and other international
and regional human rights instruments”.
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