Ethiopia releases five bloggers, journalists from custody

Nairobi

Five Ethiopian journalists and bloggers who were under custody for a case alleged to silence the government, have been released today while four others are still in custody.

The bloggers were member of a group—Zone 9 and were arrested for publishing article criticising government policies and journalists for attempting to incite violence.

"The release of these five journalists is a welcome turn of events in Ethiopia, where the number of journalists in prison has steadily increased in recent years," said Tom Rhodes, the east Africa representative of the Committee to Protect Journalists, a U.S.-based group.

It called for release of the remaining detainees and all charges against them to be dropped. U.S.-based Human Rights Watch also reported the release of the five.

Their release comes roughly two weeks before U.S. President Barack Obama is due to visit the region. The United States is a major donor to Ethiopia and has raised the fate of the Zone 9 bloggers during high-level visits to the region.