On 26 December 2007, an Ethiopian court handed down the prison sentences of two and a half years each to the Ethiopian Ethiopian lawyers, anti-poverty activists and human rights defenders Daniel Bekele and Netsanet Demissie. The verdict in the trial of Daniel Bekele and Netsanet Demissie was due to be delivered on 17 December 2007 but had been postponed due to the illness of one of the presiding judge and the need of the new judge to familiarise himself with the case material. Daniel and Netsanet have already spent more than two years in detention, so there is a strong possibility that they will be freed on parole.

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Posted 20/12/2007 Both men have already been in prison for 25 months and these delays mean that they will remain in custody until at least 24 December 2007. Daniel Bekele and Netsanet Demissie are the last remaining defendants in a treason trial, which originally involved 131 politicians, journalists, civil society leaders and organisations facing allegations of conspiracy to overthrow the government. The trial began in Addis Ababa after the last parliamentary elections on 15 May 2005. Daniel Bekele and Netsanet Demissie are facing charges of 'outrage against the Constitution and constitutional order', and if convicted could be sentenced to life in prison of the death penalty.

Netsanet Demissie is a human rights and environmental lawyer based in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. He is the founder and Executive Director of the Organization for Social Justice in Ethiopia (OSJE), which participated in monitoring national elections in May 2005. Daniel Bekele is the head of the Policy Research and Advocacy Department for Action Aid International in Ethiopia. Both Netsanet Demissie and Daniel Bekele are coordinators of the Global Call to Action against Poverty (GCAP).

Front Line is of the opinion that Daniel Bekele and Netsanet Demissie are facing judicial persecution as a consequence of their peaceful activities in defence of human rights. Furthermore, Front Line fears that this trial may form part of an ongoing campaign against human rights defenders in Ethiopia.