music.wikisort.org - Poet

Befeqadu Hailu Techanie also written as Befekadu Hailu Techane (Amharic: በፍቃዱ ኃይሉ; born 19 February 1980) is an Ethiopian writer, activist, and blogger. He is a member of the Zone 9 bloggers group that were arrested in April 2014 due to their blogging activities. Hailu is now released on bail and is defending himself before court on a downgraded charge of 'inciting violence through writing'.

His novel, Children of their Parents (2013), won third place in the 2012 Burt Award for African Literature.[1] In 2015, along with the other Zone 9 bloggers, he was awarded the International Press Freedom Award from the Committee to Protect Journalists.[2]

Biography

Hailu was born on February 19, 1980 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.[3] He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Management and Information Systems from Zegha Business College in 2006 and worked as an MIS Expert at St. Mary's University College.[3] Since 2009, he has worked as a journalist for various publications and at one point served as Managing Editor for Enqu, a prominent Ethiopian magazine.[4][5]

Hailu also writes poetry and has published poetry compilations online.

Hailu first began blogging on his personal blog, The Q Perspective, where he wrote about socio-political issues in Ethiopia. He later became one of the founding members of Zone 9, a collective of bloggers sharing commentary about political repression and social injustice in Ethiopia.[6] Hailu is also a member of Global Voices Online, an international network of bloggers and translators.[7]

Arrest

Due to his activities as part of the Zone 9 group, Hailu was arrested on April 25, 2014, and charged with terrorism.[8][9] Specifically, he was charged with violating Article 4 of the 2009 Anti-Terrorism Proclamation as well as various other laws.[10] The government accused Hailu 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.[10] At his hearing, Hailu stated that he was forced to make false confessions.[11] On 21 October 2015, Hailu was acquitted of terrorism charges and released on bail of 20,000 ETB (est. equivalent of US$1,000) to defend himself before court, to be cleared of downgraded charges of 'inciting violence through writing'.

Hailu was re-arrested on November 10, 2016, after giving an interview for Voice of America's Amharic Service about Ethiopia's state of emergency.[12] He was subsequently released in December, along with thousands of other political prisoners detained during the state of emergency.[13]

Publications

• Children of their Parents. Addis Ababa: CODE-Ethiopia, 2013. ISBN 9789994487608. OCLC 890808411. 228 pages.

Awards

• 2012: Burt Award for African Literature, third place, from the Canadian Organization for Development through Education (CODE), administered by Canada Council for the Arts, for Children of their Parents.[1][3]
• 2015: International Press Freedom Award, from the Committee to Protect Journalists, New York City, awarded to the group of Zone 9 bloggers.[2]
• 2019: PEN Pinter Prize, International Writer of Courage Award[14][15]

References

External links

• The Q Perspective
• Interview with Hailu prior to arrest
• Befeqadu's account of his detention and interrogation
• BBC Newshour Interview with Hailu after release
• ARTE Online Tv Interview with Hailu after release
• Al Jazeera Interview with Hailu after release

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