Three Ethiopian newspaper publishers and journalists who were in prison for 17 months in connection with media coverage of the country's post-election unrest in 2005 have been denied journalism licenses.

Eskinder Nega, Serkalim Fasil and Sisay Agena said they were notified by an information ministry official Monday that their applications for permits that would allow them to practice journalism were denied. No cause of the rejections was given.

The three were among 15 journalists who were jailed for covering the anti-government uprisings, in which nearly 200 demonstrators were killed, which disputed the country's 2005 elections. The jailed journalists were initially charged with outrage against the constitution, which is similar to treason and carries a maximum sentence of death. However, the charges were dropped and they were released last April, Voice of America News reported.

Nega and Fasil, who are husband and wife, along with Agena, applied for permission to re-open their papers in September. Several others who were freed went into exile, according to VOA.

“We will remain here and fight for freedom of expression to the very last,” Nega said, according to VOA. “We will not leave. I am sure the Ethiopian government would be happy to see us leave, to see us go into exile like the rest, but that is exactly what we will not do.”

Ethiopian Information Ministry officials refused to comment on the government's action.

Nega told VOA that the ministry usually leaves applications pending indefinitely, and that the denial of the papers is intended to be a message to journalists and others preparing for local elections scheduled across the country later this year.