adminbut the hearing was pushed back to Thursday, their lawyer said.
Photographer Johan Persson and reporter Martin Schibbye, both freelancers, have been remanded in custody since they were arrested on July 1 with Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) rebels after a battle with government troops.
The trial was delayed to allow lawyers to be appointed for two fellow co-accused, Somalis who Addis Ababa accuses of crossing with the Swedes and the ONLF illegally into Ethiopia.
“The first and second defendants were not represented by law,” defence lawyer Sileshi Ketsela told reporters outside the courtroom.
He added that a public defence lawyer would be appointed for the two Somalis.
The ONLF, formed in 1984, has been fighting for the independence of the remote southeastern Ogaden, populated mainly by ethnic Somalis, which the rebels said has been marginalised by Addis Ababa.
The Swedes were charged last month with being engaged in terrorist activities, aiding and abetting a terrorist group, and entering the country illegally without permission from neighbouring Somalia.
Rights groups have already criticised the process of the trial, after Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi said in an interview last week that the Swedes were “at the very least messenger boys of a terrorist organisation.” – AFP.
Online Reporter