Gobeze Sisay of The Voice of Amhara was arrested in May 2023 in Djibouti and transferred under unclear circumstances to Ethiopia. He was charged with terrorism in June 2023. Five of the six Ethiopian journalists in CPJ’s 2024 prison census are facing this charge, after reporting on conflict in the Amhara region, for which they could face the death penalty if convicted.
In 2021, Gobeze launched the YouTube-based The Voice of Amhara, and was one of its reporters. The channel had over 110,000 subscribers in late 2023, according to CPJ’s review, but was no longer online by late 2024.
On April 30, 2023, the Ethiopian Joint Security and Intelligence Task Force published a statement accusing Gobeze and 46 others of involvement in terrorism in the Amhara region.
The statement followed the government’s April 6 decision to integrate regional militia into the federal army, which triggered protests. The Amhara Regional Special Forces refused to surrender their weapons and the Fano militia took up arms against federal forces — their former allies in a civil war in northern Ethiopia that ended with a peace deal in 2022. The Amhara conflict was ongoing as of late 2024.
Gobeze had reported extensively on the conflict for The Voice of Amhara.
Gobeze fled to neighboring Djibouti, where he was arrested on May 6, 2023, and transferred to Ethiopia, his lawyer Addisu Almaw told CPJ. In a statement, the Ethiopian Joint Security and Intelligence Task Force said it received assistance from Djiboutian authorities and the global police coordination body Interpol. In May 2023, Interpol told CPJ via email that it was not involved in Gobeze’s transfer and it was not empowered to arrest or extradite individuals.
On June 7, 2023, the federal ministry of justice formally filed charges against Gobeze and 50 other people, including three other journalists in CPJ’s 2024 prison census — Genet Asmamaw, Meskerem Abera, and Dawit Begashaw — according to a charge sheet reviewed by CPJ.
The charge sheet accused the journalists of violating the Proclamation on Prevention and Suppression of Terrorism, which stipulates that those found guilty of “terrorizing or spreading fear among the public” to advance “political, religious or ideological causes” can be given the death penalty.
Prosecutors said that Gobeze participated in discussions and meetings with people intent on forcibly overthrowing the government. They accused the journalist of preparing propaganda materials and planning the dissemination of “provocative texts and images through various social media channels.”
The charge sheet said that Gobeze appeared in a video where he accused the ruling Prosperity Party of trying to divide the Amhara region and called for its removal from power, as well as for the abolition of an ethnic Oromo sub-regional administration in Oromia region, where Oromo and Amhara militias were fighting. It did not detail when and where the video was published so CPJ was unable to verify the allegations.
On July 19, 2023, Gobeze and his co-defendants were denied bail, according to Addisu, and Gobeze was transferred to the capital’s Kaliti federal maximum security prison the following day.
In October and November 2023, the defendants’ application for their case to be dismissed as politically motivated was rejected, Henok Aklilu, another of his lawyers, said.
From December 2023 to March 2024, the proceedings were suspended pending a Supreme Court ruling on whether some defendants could be tried in absentia, Addisu said. It ruled in favor.
In May, the proceedings were suspended again pending a Supreme Court ruling on a preliminary objection by the defense, demanding that the charge sheet be amended to include specific facts, including details on the damage and violent incidents that the defendants were alleged to have committed or incited, Addisu said.
On November 12, the prosecution filed an amended charge sheet naming the people allegedly affected by the incidents, without detailing those incidents. On November 14, Gobeze appeared before the federal court alongside other co-defendants and pleaded not guilty. The court adjourned the trial to mid-December when prosecution witnesses were expected to begin testifying.
Gobeze was previously detained in May 2022 for a week and in September 2022 for more than two months.
Ethiopia government spokesperson Legesse Tulu did not answer CPJ's calls or text messages in late 2024. Emails requesting comment from Ethiopia's ministry of justice and its federal Government Communication Service, as well as the offices of Djibouti’s prime minister, ministry of interior, ministry of justice, and ministry of foreign affairs were also unanswered.