and killings of Oromos were reported. The Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) consolidated political control with 99.6 percent victory in the May 2010 parliamentary elections. According to Human Rights Watch the polls were preceded by months of intimidation of opposition party supporters. According to European election observers, the election fell short of international standards. The government had a five-year strategy to systematically close down space for political dissent and independent criticism. Freedom of the press The Universal Declaration of Human Rights Article 19 of the freedom of expression states: Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers. 1991–2018: EPRDF According to Reporters Without Borders Ethiopia was 139 out of 178 in its latest worldwide index in January 2012. Government censorship, harassment and arrest of bloggers and journalists severely restricts freedom of the press in Ethiopia: in December 2009, Martin Schibbye and Johan Persson were convicted for "rendering support to terrorism" and entering the country illegally "to commit an act that is a threat to the well-being of the people of Ethiopia." Status:Pardoned in 2011, Hellman-Hammett Award winner Woubshet Taye Abebe was arrested. He was charged under the anti-terrorism law. Before his arrest, he was the deputy editor of the Awramba Times. Status: In prison in 2012, Reeyot Alemu Gobebo, a journalist for Feteh, was convicted on three counts under the terrorism law and initially sentenced to 14 years in prison. This sentence was reduced to 5 years on appeal. Status: In prison. in 2012 PEN/Barbara Goldsmith Freedom to Write Award recipient Eskinder Nega was arrested under terrorism charges for his reporting on the Arab Spring; in 2014 six members of the Zone 9 blogging collective were arrested under terrorism charges related to their reporting and use of online encryption tools. All of the above individuals were held at the Kaliti Prison. 2018–present: Abiy Ahmed During the Abiy Ahmed prime ministership that started in April 2018, thousands of political prisoners were released in May 2018. The rate of imprisonment of journalists during Abiy's first year of power dropped for the first time since 2004. In April 2019, the media remained reluctant to criticise the government out of fear of punishment. From May 2019 to December 2020, Addis Standard counted 33 detentions of journalists.