Swedes to seek clemency in Ethiopia ruling-media

Tue Jan 10, 2012 2:42pm GMT

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STOCKHOLM Jan 10 (Reuters) - The two Swedish journalists sentenced by an Ethiopian court to 11 years in prison for entering the country illegally and aiding a rebel group have decided to seek clemency rather than appeal, they were quoted as saying on Tuesday.

Reporter Martin Schibbye and photographer Johan Persson were arrested in July after they entered Ethiopia's Ogaden province from Somalia's semi-autonomous Puntland region with the outlawed Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) rebel group fighters.

"There is a tradition of clemency and pardon in Ethiopia and we choose to trust that tradition," newspaper Svenska Dagbladet quoted the men as saying in a short statement.

The journalists' Swedish lawyer was not immediately available to comment and the Swedish Foreign Ministry declined to comment.

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