Ethiopian paper fined over coverage of Eskinder Nega’s trial

Temesgen Desalegn – the fearless journalist in charge of Feteh newspaper

The Lideta Federal High Court
in the capital, Addis Ababa, sentenced Temesghen Desalegn, editor of the private weekly Feteh,

to a suspended four-month prison term and a fine of 2,000 birrs (US$113) on
charges of contempt of the judiciary, news reports said. Desalegn
paid the fine, local journalists told CPJ.

Prosecutors had filed a formal complaint on April 11
against Feteh and Negadras,
another leading independent newspaper, for “repeatedly publishing articles
which put down the court’s responsibility, disgrace its trust and undermine
people’s trust on the rule of law,” local journalists said. The court
acquitted Negadras Editor-in-Chief Surafel Girma, news accounts
said, but the accounts did not explain why.

The two newspapers had published in full the written
statement read aloud by Eskinder

during a March 28 hearing

in his high-profile terrorism trial, local journalists said. In the statement, Eskinder professed
his innocence and questioned the independence of the court and the fairness of the proceedings. “The problem is not [the prosecutors’] professionalism but the political interference. When they are forced to come up with a charge with no evidence, they have no choice but to fabricate things,” he said.

his
innocence and questioned the independence of the court and the fairness of the
proceedings. “The problem is not [the prosecutors’] professionalism but
the political interference. When they are forced to come up with a charge with
no evidence, they have no choice but to fabricate
things,” he said.

“When a journalist can be fined and subjected to a suspended prison
term for publishing statements made by a defendant in court, it illustrates the
decay of free expression and the rule of law,” said CPJ Africa Advocacy
Coordinator Mohamed Keita. “Domestic and international observers, who are
watching this trial closely, consider coverage of the defendant’s position to
be central in judging the integrity of the proceeding.”

Feteh also published open letters by other imprisoned co-defendants of Eskinder, including prominent opposition leader Andualem Arage, who was injured in a prison attack in February, according to the same sources.

Eskinder faces life in prison if he is convicted on charges of terrorism and incitement to violent revolt for his articles that discussed the implication of the Arab Spring uprisings for the struggle for democracy in Ethiopia, local journalists said. He had also published commentaries critical of the government’s use of a sweeping anti-terrorism law to jail dozens of opponents, including critical journalists, the journalists said.

On May 2, Eskinder was awarded the Pen America’s “Freedom to Write” annual prize for his coverage of Ethiopia’s human rights record.