Awramba Times
Tuesday, August 06, 2013
The state-run Ethiopian Radio and Television Agency (ERTA) announced to
organize debates on the nation’s deeply flawed anti-terrorism law.
Human Rights Watch, Amnestry International and other right groups
have repeatedly raised concerns about the anti-terrorism law’s overly
broad definition of “terrorist acts.” The law’s provisions on support
for terrorism contain a vague prohibition on “moral support” under which
Politicians and journalists have been convicted.
The proclamation states that “whosoever writes, edits, prints,
publishes, publicizes, disseminates, shows, makes to be heard any
promotional statements encouraging, supporting or advancing terrorist
acts stipulated under this Proclamation is punishable with rigorous
imprisonment.
However, legal analysts who have a strong knowledge on Ethiopia’s
jurisprudence argue that such provisions would violate the right to
freedom of expression under the constitution which is the supreme law of
the nation.