Eskinder Nega
Eskinder Nega
Eskinder Negais an Ethiopian journalist and blogger who has been jailed seven times by the government of Meles Zenawi, including convictions for treason and terrorism. He received the PEN/Barbara Goldsmith Freedom to Write Award in May 2012, and Amnesty International designated him a prisoner of conscience...
NationalityEthiopian
ProfessionJournalist
CountryEthiopia
cannot delayed
Democracy is a destiny of humanity which cannot be averted. It can be delayed but not defeated.
birth gave minister previous prime regime
Under the previous regime of Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, I was detained. So was my wife, Serkalem Fasil. She gave birth to our son in prison in 2005.
antagonism attraction burden carried decades dominated historical leadership nation norm past poles politics rarely united
In the long march of history, at least two poles of attraction and antagonism have been the norm in world politics. Rarely has only one nation carried the burden of leadership. The unipolar world of the 21st century, dominated for the past two decades by the United States, is a historical anomaly.
history unlearn
Wont to unlearn from history, we aptly repeat even its most brazen mistakes.
behind company next peace sleep though warm
I sleep in peace, even if only in the company of lice, behind bars. The same could not be said of my incarcerators though they sleep in warm beds, next to their wives, in their homes.
arrested broad covers detained found june months nine overly september terrorist
I was arrested in September 2011 and detained for nine months before I was found guilty in June 2012 under Ethiopia's overly broad Anti-Terrorism Proclamation, which ostensibly covers the 'planning, preparation, conspiracy, incitement and attempt' of terrorist acts.
doom early freedom future glee held implacable possibilities remember soviet states thrill union united
I distinctly remember the vivacious optimism that inundated the United States when the Soviet Union imploded in the early 1990s. This was not glee generated by the doom of an implacable enemy, but thrill germinated by the real possibilities that the future held for freedom.
aggregate aid both countries donor economies fiscal government minus power stimulus suffer theatrical
Aggregate aid is to the Ethiopian economy what Obama's fiscal stimulus was to the American economy: minus these injections, both economies would suffer catastrophically. The theatrical blustering of the Ethiopian government notwithstanding, donor countries have a make-or-break power over the Ethiopia's prosperity.
bang doomed exit extremists failure
Tyranny is increasingly unsustainable in this post-cold-war era. It is doomed to failure. But it must be prodded to exit the stage with a whimper - not the bang that extremists long for.
wide
I am jailed, with around 200 other inmates, in a wide hall that looks like a warehouse.
arab ethiopia government might overthrow regime report similar suggest
I've never conspired to overthrow the government; all I did was report on the Arab Spring and suggest that something similar might happen in Ethiopia if the authoritarian regime didn't reform.