Free the Journalists Johan Persson & Martin Schibbye
On July 1st 2011, the two Swedish journalists, Johan Persson and Martin Schibbye, were arrested by Ethiopian forces in the Ogaden province in Ethiopia. They have been held in prison since then. On Dec 27th 2011 they were sentenced to 11 years in prison after being found guilty of supporting terrorism and entering the country illegally.
It was claimed that they entered together with the guerilla group ONLF, which are considered a terrorist group in Ethiopia. Johan and Martin have admitted that they entered the country illegally via Somalia, but deny all forms of terrorist crimes. ”According to Reporters Without Borders assessment, there is no evidence that Martin and Johan supports ONLF”, says Jesper Bengtsson, president of the Swedish section of Reporters Without Borders.
On 25 September 2011, friends and colleagues of Johan and Martin founded the group Free the Journalists Johan Persson and Martin Schibbye. Gradually, other people with an interest in this cause have joined the group. We strongly believe that Johan and Martin are innocent of the terrorism allegations and that they have only done their job as journalists.
We refer accordingly to Article 19 in the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights. “Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.”
