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1 | Journal from an Ethiopian Prison: Testimony of Befeqadu Hailu | Diarim-Piainana ao Amponja Etiopiana: Fijoroana Vavolombelon'i Befeqadu Hailu |
2 | This testimony was written by blogger and human rights advocate Befeqadu Hailu in late August 2014. | Nosoratan'ilay bilaogera sady mpiaro ny zon'olombelona Befeqadu Hailu tamin'ny faran'ny volana Aogositra 2014 ity fijoroana vavolombelona ity. |
3 | A founding member of the Zone9 blogging collective and a Global Voices community member, he was arrested and imprisoned on April 25, 2014 along with five fellow members of Zone9 and three journalist colleagues. | Mpikambana mpanorina ny Zone9 blogging collective sy mpikambana ao amin'ny Global Voices izy, izay nosamborina sy nogadraina tamin'ny 25 Aprily 2014, miaraka amin'ireo namany hafa mpikambana ao amin'ny Zone9 sy mpanao gazety mpiara-miasa aminy telo. |
4 | On July 17, 2014, all nine detainees were charged under the country's penal code and the Terrorism Proclamation of 2009. | Tamin'ny 17 Jolay 2014, voampanga tamin'ny alalan'ny fehezan-dalàna momba ny heloka bevava ao amin'ny firenena sy ny Fanambarana Fampihorohorona tamin'ny 2009 ireo sivy nogadraina. |
5 | Befeqadu mentions in his text the names of several of his fellow detainees including Abel, Mahlet, and Natnael. | Notanisain'i Befeqadu tao amin'ny lahatsorany ny anaran'ireo namany nogadraina, ka anisan'izany i Abel, Mahlet, sy Natnael. |
6 | All are members of the Zone9 collective. | Mpikambana ao amin'ny Zone9 avokoa izy rehetra ireo. |
7 | This is the first of two installments of an abridged version of Befeqadu's testimony. | Voalohany amin'ny fizarana roa avy amin'ny lahatsoratra nofintinina tamin'ny fijoroana vavolombelon'i Befeqadu ity. |
8 | It was translated from Amharic to English by Endalk Chala and edited for clarity and context by Ellery Roberts Biddle. | Nadikan'i Endalk Chala tamin'ny teny anglisy avy amin'ny teny Aamharika ary nahitsin'i Ellery Roberts Biddle mba hazava kokoa ny vontoaty. |
9 | The full, unabridged testimony is available in PDF form here. | Azo jerena ao amin'ny endrika PDF eto ny fijoroana vavolombelona feno. |
10 | “So, what do you think is your crime?” | «Araka izany, inona no heverinao fa heloka vitanao?” |
11 | My interrogator posed this question after forcing me to recount my work as an activist and progressive blogger. | Nanao izany fanontaniana izany tamiko ny mpanao famorotorana ahy rehefa avy nanery ahy hitantara ny asako amin'ny maha-mpikatroka sy bilaogera tia mivoatra ahy. |
12 | Soon after the interrogation, when my captors reunited me with my blogger friends, we realized that we were all asked this same question: | Fotoana fohy taorian'ny famotorana, rehefa nampiarahan'ireo mpaka an-keriny tamiko ireo bilaogera namako, nahita izahay fa mitovy ny fanontaniana napetraka taminay rehetra: |
13 | Befeqadu Hailu. | Befeqadu Hailu. |
14 | Photo used with permission. | Sary nahazoan-dalana. |
15 | “So what do you think is your crime?” | |
16 | The question is intriguing. | Mampiahiahy ilay fanontaniana. |
17 | It sheds light on our innocence, on our refusal to acknowledge whatever crimes our captors suspect us of committing. | Mampiseho ny maha-tsy manantsiny anay, amin'ny fandavanay izay heloka hiahiahian'ireo mpaka an-keriny anay. |
18 | Yes, they probed us severely, but each session ended with same question. | Eny, nofotoran'izy ireo mafy izahay, saingy mifarana amin'ny fanontaniana mitovy hatrany ny fanadihadiana tsirairay. |
19 | The investigation was not meant to prove or disprove our offenses. | Tsy natao hanaporofoana na hitsipahana ny heloka hanenjehana anay ny famotorana. |
20 | It was meant simply to make us plead guilty. | Fa natao fotsiny mba hampiaikena anay ho meloka. |
21 | After two years of writing and working to engage citizens in political debate, we have been apprehended and investigated. | Taorian'ny roa taona nanoratana sy niasana ho fanentanana ny olom-pirenena hiditra amin'ny adihevitra politika, nosamborina izahay ary natao famotorana. |
22 | Blame is being laid upon us for committing criminal acts, for supposedly being members and “accepting the missions” of [opposition political parties] Ginbot7/May 15 and OLF. | Nomena anay ny tsiny fa nahavita heloka bevava izahay, izay voalaza fa noho ny maha-mpikambana sy ny “fanekena hanao iraka” hoan'ny [antoko politika mpanohitra] Ginbot7/May 15 sy ny OLF. [ |
23 | [1] The next step is “due process” and our prosecution, but I believe there are still questions to be answered. | 1] Ny dingana manaraka dia ny «fombafomba fitsarana tsy maintsy arahina” sy ny fitsarana anay, saingy mihevitra aho fa mbola misy fanontaniana tokony hovaliana. |
24 | How did we get here? | Ahoana no nahatongavanay teto? |
25 | What was our interrogation like? | Tahaka ny ahoana ny famotorana anay? |
26 | Are we really members of Ginbot7/May15? | Tena mpikambana marina ao amin'ny Ginbot7/May15 ve izahay? |
27 | If not, why have they arrested us? | Raha tsia, nahoana no nosamborin'izy ireo izahay? |
28 | Will they release us soon? | Ho havotsotr'izy ireo tsy ho ela ve izahay atsy ho atsy? |
29 | No matter what, boundaries exist in this country. | Tsy maninona izay fetra misy eto amin'ity firenena ity. |
30 | People who write about Ethiopia's political reality will face the threat of incarceration as long as they live here. | Hiatrika fandrahonana sy fanagadrana ny olona izay manoratra momba ny zava-misy ara-politika ao Ethiopia raha mbola velon'aina. |
31 | We believe that everyone who experiences this reality, dreading the consequences of expressing their views, lives in the outer ring of the prison - the nation itself. | Mino izahay fa ny tsirairay izay efa niaina ity zava-misy ity, ary matahotra ny voka-dratsin'ny fanehoana hevitra, dia miaina ao ivelan'ny fonja - dia ilay firenena mihitsy. |
32 | That is why we call our blog Zone9. | Izany no nahatonga anay hiantso ny bilaoginay hoe Zone9. |
33 | [2] Zone9 was merely two weeks old when the government made our collective blog inaccessible in Ethiopia in 2012. | [2] Vao roa herinandro monja no nitsanganan'ny Zone9 raha tsy navelan'ny governemanta idirana intsony ny bilaoginay iombonana ao Etiopia tamin'ny taona 2012. |
34 | Despite the blockage, we continued to write, but we knew that the fate of our blocked blogs could be our own. | Na dia eo aza ny fanakatonana, mbola nanohy nanoratra izahay, saingy fantatray fa izahay ihany no mizaka ny fanakatonana ny bilaoginay. |
35 | We knew we could end up being arrested. | Fantatray fa mety hiafara amin'ny fisamborana hanagadrana anay izany. |
36 | In the days and weeks leading up to our incarceration in April 2014, government security agents threatened us with imminent arrest, but we were still shaken by what happened to us. | Andro maro sy herinandro mialoha ny nanagadrana anay tamin'ny volana Aprily 2014, nandrahona anay ireo mpiambina ny governemanta fa antomotra ny fisamborana anay, saingy mbola mihovotrovotra amin'ny zava-mahazo anay izahay. |
37 | The six local members of the blogging collective and our three journalist allies were arrested and detained. | Nosamborina sy nogadraina ireo mpikambana ao an-toerana enina ao amin'ny bilaogy iombonana sy ireo namanay mpanao gazety telo. |
38 | With the exception of one of the journalists (Asmamaw Hailegiorgis of Addis Guday newspaper) we were arrested on Friday April 25 at about 11:00 pm and taken from our respective locations. | Ankoatra ny iray tamin'ireo mpanao gazety (Asmamaw Hailegiorgis ao amin'ny gazety Addis Guday), nosamborina ny Zoma 25 Aprily teo amin'ny 11 alina izahay ary nalaina tany an-tranonay tsirairay avy. |
39 | Asmamaw was arrested the next morning. | Nosamborina i Asmamaw ny ampitso maraina. |
40 | By the time we were seized and taken to the detention center, the search “warrant” that authorized our arrest was well over its time limit, according to Ethiopian law. | Tamin'ny fotoana nisamborana anay sy nitondrana anay tany amin'ny fonja, efa lany andro, araka ny lalàna ny Etiopiana ny datin'ny “antoka” manome alalana ny fisamborana anay. |
41 | The unlawful intrusion on our rights began here. | Nanomboka teo ny fanohintohinana tsy ara-dalàna tamin'ny zonay. |
42 | Without delay, we became the victims of many violations of Ethiopian law by the authorities. | Tsy niandry ela, nanjary lasibatry ny fanitsakitsahana ny lalàna Etiopiana ataon'ireo manampahefana izahay. |
43 | The idea of setting a foot in the compound of the ill-famed Maekelawi detention center gives a cold shiver to anyone who knows its history. | Mampangorintsika izay rehetra mahafantatra ny tantarany (fonja) na dia ny eritreritra hiditra ao amin'ny fonjaben'i Maekelawi malaza ratsy. |
44 | But my sheer optimism and trust that the brutal and inhumane treatment of people was a distant memory saved me from trembling as I was escorted into the compound. | Saingy nanampy ahy tsy hangovitra ny fanantenako madio sy ny finoako fa ho lasa fahatsiarovana hohadinoina ny fampijaliana sy ny habibiana atao ao raha niditra tao amin'ilay toerana lehibe aho. |
45 | The same was true of my friends, I suppose. | Mihevitra aho fa mitovy amin'izany ihany koa ny namako. |
46 | What is more, we had nothing to be scared of, because we are neither undercover agents nor members of armed forces. | Ankoatra izany, tsy misy zavatra tokony atahoranay, satria sady tsy mpiasa mpitsikilo izahay no tsy mpikambana ao amin'ny tafika. |
47 | We are just writers. | Mpanoratra fotsiny ihany izahay. |
48 | But as soon as I arrived at Maekelawi, detainees informed me that I had been placed in one of the notorious sections of the detention center, known as “Siberia”. | Raha vao tonga tao Maekelawi aho, nampahafantatra ahy ireo gadra fa apetraka amin'iray amin'ireo vaki-paritra malaza ao amin'ny fonja, antsoina hoe “Siberia” aho. |
49 | In less than a week, I felt like I was living in the middle of an account from the 2013 Human Rights Watch report entitled “They Want a Confession”. | Tsy ampy herinandro, nahatsiaro toy ny miaina ao anatin'ny tantara navoakan'ny tatitry ny Mpanaramaso Ny Zon'Olombelona tamin'ny 2013 mitondra ny lohateny hoe «Mitady fiaikena izy ireo” aho. |
50 | [3] This is the first of two installments of an abridged version of Befeqadu's testimony. | [3] Voalohany amin'ny fizarana roa avy amin'ny lahatsoratra nofintinina tamin'ny fijoroana vavolombelon'i Befeqadu ity. |
51 | It was translated from Amharic to English by Endalk Chala and edited for clarity and context by Ellery Roberts Biddle. | Nadikan'i Endalk Chala tamin'ny teny anglisy avy amin'ny teny Aamharika ary nahitsin'i Ellery Roberts Biddle mba hazava kokoa ny vontoaty. |
52 | The full, unabridged testimony is available in PDF form here. | Azo jerena ao amin'ny endrika PDF eto ny fijoroana vavolombelona feno. |
53 | Six of the detained bloggers in Addis Ababa. | Enina amin'ireo bilaogera nogadraina ao Addis Abeba. |
54 | Photo used with permission. | Sary nahazoan-dalana. |