Ethiopia pardons Swedish journalists

Journalists jailed for assisting outlawed rebel group will be released soon, according to government source

guardian.co.uk, Reuters in Addis Ababa, Monday 10 September 2012

Martin Schibbye, pictured in 2009, was sentenced to 11 years in prison
 with Johan Persson on charges of supporting terrorism. Photograph:
AFP/Getty Images

Ethiopia has pardoned two Swedish journalists jailed for assisting an outlawed rebel group and the pair will be released soon, a government source has said.

"Some 1,900 prisoners have been pardoned and are scheduled to be released in the coming days. The Swedish journalists are part of the group," the source said on Monday.

A news conference announcing the pardon was due to be held later in the day, the source added.

Johan Persson, 29, and Martin Schibbye, 31, were sentenced to 11 years in prison last December on charges of supporting terrorism after they illegally entered the country with a Somali rebel group.

The two journalists were detained during a clash with rebels in Ogaden, eastern Ethiopia's ethnic Somali region and scene of a struggle for independence since the 1970s.

The journalists had claimed they were investigating alleged human rights abuses and had been using the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) rebel group as guides in a region the Ethiopian authorities will not allow journalists to enter.

Related Article:

Ethiopian court jails Swedish journalists