Ethiopian Bloggers Acquitted Of Terrorism Charges; Three Imprisoned Zone 9 Bloggers Set To Be Released From Prison (TWEETS)

The four remaining imprisoned Ethiopian bloggers, belonging to Zone 9 blogging group, have been acquitted of terrorism charges by a court in Addis Ababa.

The Federal High Court dropped Friday infamous terrorism charges against Zone 9 bloggers Abel Wabella, Atnaf Berhane and Natnail Feleke, who were jailed in April 2014, reported BBC News.

The fourth blogger, Befeakdu Hailu, was also acquitted of terrorism charges but will be charged for inciting violence, according to enca. Another blogger, Soleyana S. Gebremichael, who is living in exile, was also acquitted in absentia.

Ethiopian authorities, in a rare crackdown, arrested six Zone 9 bloggers and three independent journalists in April 2014 and slapped notorious terrorism charges against them, according to Geeska Afrika.

An Addis Ababa court had already freed two other Zone 9 members, Zelalem Kibret and Mahlet Fantahun, and three independent journalists in July.

Internationals rights body Human Rights Watch slammed the Ethiopian government, saying that today's judgment "cannot reverse the months in prison that these nine people have lost for no good reason."

"Their detention and treatment has been marked by serious due process failures. There have been allegations of mistreatment in detention and claims that the witness statements read out in court today were obtained under duress," Felix Horne, HRW researcher in Horn of Africa, said in a statement.

"It is shameful that the Ethiopian authorities arrested them in the first place, subjected them to a sham judicial process and incarcerated them for nearly a year and a half," Muthoni Wanyeki, Amnesty International's Regional Director for East Africa, the Horn and the Great Lakes, said in a statement.

Wabella, Berhane and Feleke will be freed from prison this weekend. The court ruling also brings to an end the twitter hashtag #Freezone9bloggers. Check out some reactions to the decision on Twitter below.