Ethiopian authorities pressure journalists to admit to false accusations and promise to quit journalism in order to secure their release

Gobeze Sisay, Meskerem Abera, Genet Asmamaw, Dawit Begashaw, and Abay Zewdu have been in detention for three years awaiting trial. Ethiopian authorities are pressuring them to admit to, and apologize for, taking part in a deadly insurgency in exchange for their freedom. The journalists refused to write such apology letters, which they regard as “self-incriminating,” their lawyer, Solomon Gezahagn, told CPJ. The five were detained in 2023 on terrorism charges in connection with their reporting on unrest in the Amhara region. Solomon said prison officials had threatened his clients and separated them from other prisoners to compel them to write their own versions of a draft document shared by the government, in addition to promising to stop working as journalists. The government wants them to consent to unspecified government action against them if they breach that commitment. If convicted, the journalists could face life imprisonment or the death penalty. The government told the journalists that the proposed release process was a pardon, but Solomon told CPJ that Ethiopian law provides for pardons only after a defendant has been convicted and received a final sentence. As the five journalists’ trials have not concluded, their cases would need to be resolved through the withdrawal of charges or an amnesty, he said. https://cpj.org/2026/08/in-ethiopia-5-journalists-pressured-to-apologize-for-terrorism-to-win-release/