Ethiopia

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.