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UPDATE - ETHIOPIA
12 June 2007
High Court convicts four editors, three publishers
SOURCE: Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), New York
**Updates IFEX alerts of 12 April 2007, 24 and 11 August, 23 and 16 March
2006, and others**
(CPJ/IFEX) - The following is an 11 June 2007 CPJ press release:
Ethiopia's High Court convicts four editors, three publishers
New York, June 11, 2007 - Ethiopia's High Court today convicted four
editors and three publishers of now-defunct weeklies of anti-state charges
linked to their coverage of the government's handling of disputed
parliamentary elections in 2005, according to local journalists.
Two of the editors were convicted of charges carrying life imprisonment or
death.
The journalists were arrested after a massive government crackdown on the
media and opposition groups in November 2005 (
http://www.cpj.org/Briefings/2006/DA
The media was targeted for its coverage of how the government handled
disputed elections the previous May
http://www.cpj.org/Briefings/2006/DA
More than 190 people were killed when authorities crushed post-election
protests contesting the ruling party's victory.
The Committee to Protect Journalists last month named Ethiopia the world's
worst backslider on press freedom
http://www.cpj.org/backsliders/index.html
"We condemn this verdict which falls within the government's pattern of
judicial harassment to intimidate and silence the private press," said Joel
Simon, CPJ's executive director. "The severity of the sentences in these
cases compounds our outrage. We call on the authorities to abandon criminal
prosecutions of journalists."
Those convicted worked for Amharic-language weeklies shuttered after the
crackdown. Editors Andualem Ayle of Ethiop and Mesfin Tesfaye of Abay, who
were convicted of "outrages against the constitutional order," face
possible execution or life in prison. Editor Wenakseged Zeleke of Asqual
could get up to 10 years in prison on similar charges.
Deputy editor Dawit Fassil of Satanaw, who had been released on bail in
April after 16 months in prison, was returned to Kality prison today on the
outskirts of Addis Ababa. He faces up to three years in prison on charges
of "inciting the public through false rumors."
The Addis Ababa court also convicted three publishers on related charges:
Serkalem, which owns Asqual, Menelik and Satanaw newspapers; Sisay,
publisher of Ethiop; and Fasil, which puts out the Addis Zena newspaper.
The companies could face heavy fines or be dissolved, defense lawyer
Weneawake Ayele told CPJ. All the newspapers involved in the court
proceedings were forced to shut down after the crackdown.
The ruling follows the acquittal in April of eight editors and publishers
on similar charges, including award-winning publisher Serkalem Fassil,
sister of Dawit Fassil and owner of the Serkalem publishing house
http://www.cpj.org/news/2007/africa/ethiopia09apr07na.html
Ethiopia remains Africa's second leading jailer of journalists, behind only
Eritrea, according to CPJ research
http://www.cpj.org/attacks06/pages06/imprison_06.html
CPJ is a New York-based, independent, nonprofit organization that works to
safeguard press freedom worldwide. For more information, visit
http://www.cpj.org
For further information, contact Research Associate Mohamed Keita at CPJ,
330 Seventh Ave., New York, NY 10001, U.S.A., tel: +1 212 465 1004, fax: +1
212 465 9568, e-mail: africaprogram@cpj.org, Internet: http://www.cpj.org/
The information contained in this update is the sole responsibility of CPJ.
In citing this material for broadcast or publication, please credit CPJ.
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