World-renowned journalists speak up about Eskinder Nega

“Who among us could write what I’m about to read,” asked Carl Bernstein, “spirit unbowed, faith in freedom and the power of the written word untrammeled?” That is how Bernstein, a legend of American journalism, paid tribute to one of Ethiopia’s most improbable convicted “terrorist,” Eskinder Nega, a brave fellow journalist who sits in jail for speaking truth to power at the  Public Forum program about imprisoned writers and artists presented by The Public Theater and PEN American Center on December 3, 2012. Bernstein was reading an article Eskinder published just five days before his arrest. The article criticized the government’s arrest of a 72-old-year actor on terrorism charges and discussed the improbability of critical journalists and dissidents as terror suspects.