Sisay Negussie, Agere 
Imprisoned: March 1997

Sisay appeared before court on April 7, and was detained at Kerchele prison for failing to present a bail guarantor of approximately US$600. At press time, CPJ had no further information about this case.

Samson Seyoum, Tequami and Agere 
Imprisoned: April 18, 1997

Samson, former editor in chief of Agere and Tequami, was sentenced to an undisclosed prison term, on charges of "inciting war and spreading Islamic Fundamentalism," for articles he had published in Agere. Detained before the sentencing and unable to produce the bail of approximately US$730, Samson had just completed an 18-month prison sentence which he had begun in December 1995 after his conviction on charges of libel for an article in Tequami.

Tolera Tessema, Mede Welabu
Imprisoned: April 23, 1997

Tolera, deputy editor in chief of Mede Welabu, was sentenced to a year in prison. At press time, CPJ had no further information on this case.

Nega Tariku, Quiyit 
Imprisoned: September 3, 1997

Nega, a reporter with Quiyit magazine, was arrested, detained, and charged with publishing pornography. His whereabouts are unknown.

Sisay Agena, Ethiop 
Imprisoned: September 8, 1997

Sisay, publisher of Ethiop, was arrested on September 8 on as yet unknown charges, and detained. He was released on bail on September 10, but on September 16 had been taken back into custody and moved from the Region 14 Criminal Investigation Office to the Central Criminal Investigation Office Prison.

Tamrat Serbessa, Wenchif
Admassu Tesfaye, Wenchif
Imprisoned: October 14, 1997

Tamrat, editor in chief of Wenchif, and Admassu, the paper’s deputy editor, were detained at the Central Criminal Investigation Office Prison. The two journalists are each charged on five counts, one of which is libel against President Negasso Gidada. This charge stemmed from a report in Wenchif that claimed the president was drunk at a gathering of Oromos.

Tesfaye Deressa, Urjii
Solomon Nemera, Urjii 
Imprisoned: October 16, 1997

Tesfaye, editor in chief of the Urjii newspaper, and Solomon, the paper’s deputy editor, were abducted from a tea room near Urjii's offices. The journalists were first detained at the Central Criminal Investigation Office Prison and were later taken to a district police prison. The two were held on charges related to a report in Urjii about the recent killing of alleged Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) members in the Mekanissa area. The article contradicted the government media’s version of the same story.
    Tesfaye and Solomon appeared three times before a district court but were given new appointments each time because of requests by police for more time to continue their investigation. After the journalists’ court appearance on December 12, police said they had concluded their investigation but were awaiting the prosecutor’s decision as to bail. However, no decision had been made when Tesfaye and Solomon appeared again in court on December 19. They were scheduled for another court appearance on January 9.

Garoma Bekele, Urjii 
Imprisoned: October 27, 1997

Garoma, publisher of the newspaper Urjii, was detained on suspicion of being a member of the outlawed Oromo Liberation Front (OLF). Garoma is being held at the Central Investigation Office Prison along with others who have been detained for their alleged connection to a series of OLF bomb attacks in Addis Ababa, Dire Dawa, and Harar. On October 31, Garoma appeared in court and made an appeal for release on bail, but was denied by the prosecutor. He was given a new court appointment for January 13.

Fekadu Mahtemwork
Imprisoned: October 28, 1997

Fekadu, a distributor of private newspapers, was detained at the Central Criminal Investigation Bureau prison. He was given a court appointment for a week later but has not yet appeared. The charges against him are not known.

Garedew Demisse, Wenchif
Imprisoned: October 31, 1997

Garedew appeared in court on charges of false information regarding a number of stories in Wenchif. The journalist was served a trial date of two weeks later. He was detained on October 28 at the Central Criminal Investigation Office Prison.

Iskinder Nega, Wenchif
Imprisoned: December 6, 1997

Iskinder, owner and publisher of Wenchif, was detained at the Central Criminal Investigation Office Prison, and charged with reporting false information. He was later moved to Wereda 9 Police Station.

Waqshum Bassa, Urjii 
Alemu Tolessa, Urjii
Imprisoned: December 23, 1997

Waqshum and Alemu were called in for questioning and detained at the Central Criminal Investigation Office. After properly registering at the Press Licensing Office of the Ministry of Information and Culture, the two had taken over publishing the Urjii newspaper. The paper’s previous editors, Solomon Nemera and Tesfaye Deressa, were arrested on October 16 and are still in detention. Alemu and Waqshum were ordered to appear in court on January 9, 1998. The status of their trial is unknown.