ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AP) — A group of more than two dozen Ethiopian Muslims pleaded not guilty on Monday to charges of terrorism.

Federal prosecutors are accusing the group, which includes prominent clerics and journalists, with terrorism and attempts to create an Islamic state that would undermine the country’s secular constitution. Among the 28 pleading not guilty was the wife of a former senior Cabinet minister who was fired last month after publicly defending her. One defendant did not plead and instead said he was mentally unfit to stand trial.