The
Federal High Court in the capital, Addis Ababa, found Temesghen guilty of
incitement, defamation, and false publication in connection with a series of
opinion pieces published in Feteh ("Justice"), the journalist's
now-defunct weekly newsmagazine, according to local journalists' translation of
the charge sheet that was reviewed by CPJ. Authorities took
Temesghen into custody Monday afternoon.
If
convicted, the journalist could face up to 10 years in prison, according to his
lawyer,Ameha Mekonnen. His sentencing is scheduled for October 27, according to
news reports.
Information
Minister Redwan Hussein said the case stemmed from articles published in Feteh
about two years ago, according to news reports. Two of the articles discussed the peaceful
struggles of Ethiopian youth movements for political change and two columns
criticized alleged government efforts to violently suppress student protesters and ethnic minorities, according to the charge
sheet.
Temesghen
was briefly arrested in August 2012 on the same charges, but
authorities dropped the charges and released him five days later without explanation, he told
CPJ at the time. A judge in the Federal High Court revived the charges in February 2013 after a state
prosecutor announced in court in December 2012 that the charges would be
refiled against him.
The
court on Mondayalso convicted in absentia Mastewal Birhanu, the former
publisher of Feteh, with inciting the public to violence by printingthe
magazine, according to the charge sheet.
"In
case the recent crackdown on current publications in Ethiopia did not
illustrate authorities' fear of independent voices, they have now resorted to
convicting a journalist on two-year-old criminal defamation charges," said
CPJ East Africa Representative Tom Rhodes. "We urge Ethiopian authorities
to drop this case-as they did once before-and free Temesghen Desalegn
immediately."
Authorities
have routinely targeted Temesghen's writing. In May 2012, he was given a
four-month suspended prison sentence and fine after Feteh published a
statement made by imprisoned journalist Eskinder Nega during his trial.
Temesghen paid the fine.
The
government ordered printers to block the distribution of Feteh in July 2012 in
connection with a series of articles about the health of the late Prime
Minister Meles Zenawi, local journalists said. Authorities blocked three other subsequent publications started by
Temesghen, including Addis Times, Le'ilena ("Magnanimity"), and the latest, Fact,
according to local journalists.
The
last edition of Fact was published in September 2014 after authorities
ordered printers to cease publishing the magazine, local journalists told CPJ.
In August, the Justice Ministry accused Fact and five other independent weekly
publications of inciting violence, publishing false news, and undermining
public confidence in the government. All publications have since ceased
publication.
Last
week, an Ethiopian court sentenced in absentia to three-year jail terms the general
managers of three of the publications, including Fact, Addis Guday,
and Lomi. The general managers are accused of inciting the public by
spreading false information and subverting the constitutional order, according
to news reports.
A
state crackdown on independent publications and bloggers has
taken place in Ethiopia this year, prompting several Ethiopian journalists to
flee into exile in 2014, according to CPJ research. With at least 17 journalists in jail,
Ethiopia is the second leading jailer of journalists in Africa, second only to
its neighbor Eritrea, CPJ research shows.
CPJ is an
independent, nonprofit organization that works to safeguard press freedom
worldwide.
Contact:
Sue Valentine
Africa Program
Coordinator
Peter Nkanga
West Africa
Representative
Email: pnkanga@cpj.org
Tom Rhodes
East Africa
Representative
Email: trhodes@cpj.org
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