ESAT News (December 21, 2016) Twenty people, including two journalists and activists, were convicted of terrorism by a kangaroo court in Addis Ababa. Ethiopian courts, used by the regime as instruments of silencing dissent and free speech, have been convicting opposition political party members, activists and journalists on trumped-up terrorism charges. Journalists Khalid Mohammed and Darsema Sory, producers of “Bilal” ...

  ESAT News (December 21, 2016) Nearly 400  of the 623 investors who took land for development in the Gambella region, western Ethiopia, have reportedly taken multiple loans  on a single plot of land. Most of the so-called “investors” have reportedly been from Tigray region. A report issued by a team to probe into the case concluded that 381 investors ...

ESAT News (December 21, 2016) British MPs from all political parties have criticised their government for not seeking the release of Britons detained unjustly abroad, including British father of three Andargachew Tsege in Ethiopia, and Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe in Iran. In a parliamentary debate on Tuesday, Foreign Office minister Tobias Ellwood was accused of “hiding behind” a claim of needing to ...

ESAT News (December 20, 2016) The Ogaden News Agency reported that heavy fighting took place between the Ogaden National Liberation Army (ONLA) and TPLF regime forces in Ogaden. “TPLF regime forces were engaged in harassment activities around the Dumodlay Village of Qabri-dahar district including rape, beatings, and arbitrary detention,” the report said. The Ogaden National Liberation Army attacked the regime’s ...

ESAT News (December 20, 2016) A unique summit under the theme “Ethiopia in Crisis” will gather academics, activists and political party leaders at the Stanford University campus in California from January 21 to 22, 2017 to look into ways of effecting changes. “In response to this crisis, the Ethiopian-American Council (EAC) is planning a forum wherein concerned advocates can address ...

ESAT News (December 20, 2016) Egyptian media lashed out at Saudi Arabia over a high-level Saudi delegation visit to the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) during a short trip to Ethiopia on Friday. Experts said the decision to visit the GERD was an act of revenge against Egypt that could deepen tensions between the two countries, Middle East Eye said ...

ESAT News (December 20, 2016) The UK government’s funding for an “Ethiopian girl band” has been placed “under review”, the international development secretary has announced. Priti Patel promised MPs she would work to ensure taxpayer “value for money”, after reports the group Yegna was getting £5.2m ($6.5), the BBC reported on Monday. She added that there were “many other ways” ...

  ESAT News (December 19, 2016) Three police officers and a prisoner have reportedly been killed in a shootout between the federal police and prison police in a dispute to take custody of Colonel Demeke Zewdu, the leader of the movement in the Amhara region. The Amhara region has been hit by anti-government protests since this summer after an uprising ...

ESAT News (December 19, 2016) Over 23 thousand people have been detained since the declaration of the state of emergency in October following a yearlong anti-government protest in Ethiopia that saw the death of over 700 people in the hands of security forces. Head of the command post in charge of the state of emergency, minister of defense Siraj Fegesa ...

ESAT News (December 19, 2016) The allocation of £5.2m ($6.5m) UK foreign aid to support projects of an Ethiopian girl band and acting group has sparked outcry. Yegna, a five-member pop group dubbed “Ethiopia’s Spice Girls”, received the funds to develop its “branded media platform”, in spite of previous criticism. Yegna, which means “Ours” in Amharic, was founded in 2013. ...