Mr. Khaled Abdu, the exiled founder and editor-in-chief of Admas newspaper, has arrived in Amsterdam and has reportedly been nominated for Human Rights Watch�s (HRW) Hammett-Hellman Award.

Admas was one of several private Eritrean newspapers that have been closed since October 2001, after the government arrested all independent reporters and editors. 

The newspapers remain closed and the reporters are still in detention.  The government has filed no formal charges but spokespersons for the government have at various times accused the reporters of violating the press laws, inciting disunity and, according to President Isaias Afwerki, of spying for foreign powers.

There are nearly thirty Eritrean reporters who have been in jail since the government's crackdown of 2001.  

Escaping arrest, Mr. Khaled Abdu fled Eritrea in October 1999 and has been living in The Sudan and Saudi Arabia until his recent relocation to The Netherlands.  

HRW�s Hammett-Hellman award is named after two American writers who had faced harassment and intimidation for expressing their beliefs when the government of United Sates was prosecuting communists and their �fellow travelers.� The writers asked that their legacy be used to publicize writers who face censorship and jail terms for expressing facts and opinions that contradict the government�s.

Each year, HRW recognizes writers and reporters who face harsh government treatement for exercising their freedom of speech.  Previous Eritrean winners of the award include Mr. Milkias Mihretab, Mr. Semere Taezaz (both with the bi-weekly Keste Debena) and Mr. Kidane Yibrah Beyene, all of whom escaped arrest.