Befeqadu Hailu

Befeqadu Hailu Techanie (Amharic: በፍቃዱ ሃይሉ?; born 1980) is an Ethiopian writer, activist, and blogger. He is a member of the Zone 9 bloggers group and was arrested in April 2014 due to his blogging activities.

Biography

Befeqadu was born in 1980 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.[1] He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Management and Information Systems from Zegha Business College and worked as an IT professional at St. Mary's University College.[1] Since 2009, he has worked as a journalist for various publications and at one point served as Editor-in-Chief for Enqu, a prominent Ethiopian magazine.[2][3] Befeqadu's first novel, Children of their Parents, won the third place Burt Award for African Literature in 2012.[1] He is also a part-time poet and has unpublished poetry compilations.

Befeqadu first began blogging on his personal blog, The Q Perspective, where he passionately wrote about sociopolitical issues in Ethiopia. He later became one of the founding members of the Zone 9 bloggers, a collective of bloggers sharing commentary about political repression and social injustice in Ethiopia.[4] Befeqadu is also a member of Global Voices Online, an international network of bloggers and translators.[5]

Arrest

Due to his activities as part of the Zone 9 bloggers group, Befeqadu was arrested on April 25, 2014, and charged with terrorism.[6] Specifically, he was charged with violating Article 4 of the 2009 Anti-Terrorism Proclamation as well as various other laws.[7] The government accused Befeqadu of being a leader of a terrorist enterprise and inciting violence. They also accused him of collaborating with Ginbot 7, a banned political party that the government has labelled a terrorist organization.[7] At his hearing, Befeqadu stated that he was forced to make false confessions.[8] As of August 2014, his trial was ongoing.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Children of their Parents". CODE-Ethiopia.
  2. "Detainees’ Profile". Zone9ers 'Trial'. Retrieved 25 August 2014.
  3. Mariam, Alemayehu G. (20 July 2014). "Ethiopia in the Twilight Zone (9) of Fear". Ethiopian Review. Retrieved 24 August 2014.
  4. Levy, Rachael (7 July 2014). "Zone 9 blogger urges world to call for freedom in Ethiopia". Committee to Protect Journalists. Retrieved 25 August 2014.
  5. "Befeqadu Hailu". Threatened Voices: Tracking Suppression of Online Free Speech. GlobalVoices. Retrieved 25 August 2014.
  6. "Ethiopia Detains Several Bloggers, a Journalist". Addis Standard. 26 April 2014. Retrieved 24 August 2014.
  7. 1 2 "Full Translation of Zone9ers Charge Sheet". Zone9ers 'Trial'. 12 August 2014. Retrieved 24 August 2014.
  8. "The staged ‘hearing’ of the three bloggers Abel, Befeqadu and Mahlet concluded with another appointment for 6th time". Zone9ers 'Trial'. 29 June 2014. Retrieved 25 August 2014.

External links

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