Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Martin and Johan were eventually given a pardon when, as Martin says, "Ethiopia realized that it was beginning to cost more than it takes to have two international journalists locked up in the Kaliti prison." On their release, they gave an interview to Ethiopian state television in which they laid it on thick, thanking the government and admitting to being terribly wrong about what they'd done. "To be honest, the Ethiopian government played us really good," Johan says.Over on Noisey: These Are the Worst Ever Performances from Radio 1's Live Lounge
Advertisement
On Sunday, Barack Obama flew into Ethiopia. It's the first time a sitting US president has visited the country. At a press conference with the Ethiopian prime minister, Hailemariam Desalegn, Obama said that, "continued growth in Ethiopia depends on the free flow of information" and that the US would "continually bring up" human rights concerns. But the American president also praised the "democratic" nature of Ethiopia's much criticized recent elections, in which the ruling party won every single one of the country's 546 parliamentary seats. First of all, his government would keep working to "continue Ethiopia's economic progress" and "further open US markets to Ethiopian products."With Ethiopia still a key ally in the War on Terror, Obama's "concerns" about human rights and the freedom of the press may amount to nothing more than diplomatic posturing. Martin and Johan are out of prison but the free, honest reporting they tried to engage in remains illegal.438 Days is published by Offside PressFollow Oscar Rickett on Twitter.