Ethiopia: On verge of release, editor convicted anew
In a 12 August 2004 letter to Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) expressed deep concern that Tewodros Kassa, the imprisoned former editor-in-chief of the Amharic language weekly "Ethiop", has been newly convicted on a four-year-old defamation charge, delaying his scheduled release from prison.
IFEX - News from the international freedom of expression community
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ACTION ALERT UPDATE - ETHIOPIA
16 August 2004
On verge of release, editor convicted anew
SOURCE: Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), New York
**Updates IFEX alerts of 29 July 2004, 23 May and 7 March 2003 and 11 July
2002**
(CPJ/IFEX) - In a 12 August 2004 letter to Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles
Zenawi, CPJ expressed deep concern that Tewodros Kassa, the imprisoned
former editor-in-chief of the Amharic language weekly "Ethiop", has been
newly convicted on a four-year-old defamation charge, delaying his scheduled
release from prison.
Kassa was sentenced on 7 July 2002 to two years in prison on two counts of
violating Ethiopia's restrictive Press Proclamation No. 34 of 1992. The
first charge, "disseminating false information that could incite people to
political violence," stemmed from two stories published in 1997. The first
reported that the ruling Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front
(EPRDF) had fired personnel at the Debre Zeit air force base who worked for
the former regime of Mengistu Haile Mariam, and replaced them with pro-EPRDF
workers. The second article alleged that unidentified individuals
unsuccessfully tried to bomb a popular hotel in the capital, Addis Ababa.
The second charge, "defamation," resulted from another 1997 article in
"Ethiop", which alleged that a private investment company specializing in
natural-resource development had connections in the EPRDF government.
Kassa's release from prison was expected in July 2004, since he had served
his full two-year sentence. But CPJ sources said that in June, just as Kassa
was to be released, he was sentenced to three more months in prison on
another defamation charge. His colleagues have recently visited him in
prison.
CPJ records show the new charge dates from November 2000, and stems from an
"Ethiop" article headlined "Businessman Killed by Unidentified Force," which
alleged that local businessman Duki Feyssa might have been killed by state
security forces. A relative of Feyssa brought the charge.
CPJ has documented many instances in which Prime Minister Zenawi's
government has used these sanctions to systematically harass and punish the
independent press. Defamation cases are often drawn out over years.
Journalists must respond to regular summonses to appear in court, and can be
jailed for missing a hearing or being unable to pay bail. Merid Estifanos,
former editor-in-chief of the private Amharic language weekly "Satanaw", was
jailed for a month in April 2004, when he was unable to pay an additional
bail imposed after he missed a court hearing connected with his ongoing
trial on criminal defamation charges (see IFEX alert of 6 April 2004).
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
Send appeals to the prime minister:
- urging him to repeal all criminal sanctions for press offenses, which have
a chilling effect on press freedom and violate international standards
- urging him to do everything in his power to see that Kassa is released
immediately and unconditionally from prison, and that the criminal cases
against him and many other Ethiopian journalists are dropped
APPEALS TO:
His Excellency Prime Minister Meles Zenawi
Office of the Prime Minister
P.O. Box 1031
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Fax: +251 155 2020
Please copy appeals to the source if possible.
For further information, contact Africa Program Coordinator Julia Crawford
or Research Associate Adam Posluns at CPJ, 330 Seventh Ave., New York, NY
10001, U.S.A., tel: +1 212 465 1004, fax: +1 212 465 9568, e-mail:
[email protected], Internet: http://www.cpj.org/
The information contained in this action alert update is the sole
responsibility of CPJ. In citing this material for broadcast or publication,
please credit CPJ.
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