Background
Befeqadu was born in 1980 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
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Befeqadu Hailu
Edit ProfileEducation
He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Management and Information Systems from Zegha Business College and worked as an Information Technology professional at Saint Mary"s University College.
Career
Since 2009, he has worked as a journalist for various publications and at one point served as Editor-in-Chief for Enqu, a prominent Ethiopian magazine. He is also a part-time poet and has unpublished poetry compilations. Befeqadu first began blogging on his personal blog, The Q Perspective, where he passionately wrote about sociopolitical issues in Ethiopia.
Due to his activities as part of the Zone 9 bloggers group, Befeqadu was arrested on April 25, 2014, and charged with terrorism.
Specifically, he was charged with violating Article 4 of the 2009 Anti-Terrorism Proclamation as well as various other laws. The government accused Befeqadu of being a leader of a terrorist enterprise and inciting violence.
At his hearing, Befeqadu stated that he was forced to make false confessions. As of August 2014, his trial was ongoing.
Achievements
Politics
They also accused him of collaborating with Ginbot 7, a banned political party that the government has labelled a terrorist organization.
Membership
He is a member of the Zone 9 bloggers group and was arrested in April 2014 due to his blogging activities. He later became one of the founding members of the Zone 9 bloggers, a collective of bloggers sharing commentary about political repression and social injustice in Ethiopia. Befeqadu is also a member of Global Voices Online, an international network of bloggers and translators.
