ESAT News (May 31, 2016)
Prisoner of conscience Eskinder Nega
Family and friends of Eskinder Nega, a prominent Ethiopian journalist and one of the many prisoners of conscience in Ethiopia, say they have not been allowed to visit him since last week.
Eskinder was sentenced to 18 years in prison on trumped-up terrorism charges. He is a critic of the tyrannical government and was put behind bars despite international uproar against the cooked up charges leveled against him in a bid to silence his criticism.
Prison officials have confiscated his books, papers and even his chair to stop him from writing. The family was also prohibited from bringing food to the prisoner of conscience.
Eskinder was one of the pioneering publishers of independent press in Ethiopia in the early 90s and has been in and out of prison seven times before he began serving his 18 years sentence five years ago.
One of the world’s leading jailers of journalists, the Ethiopian regime has put a dozen journalists behind bars.