Former Ethiopian state radio journalist released

A panel of judges at the Lideta
Federal High Court in the capital, Addis Ababa, sentenced Abdulsemed Mohammed

, a former senior
producer with government-controlled broadcaster Ethiopian Radio and Television
Agency (ERTA),

to three and half years in prison but said he could go free on account of time
already served. The judges also put Abdulsemed on
probation for two years, the local journalists said.

Abdulsemed and another senior
ERTA journalist, editor Haileyesus
Worku, were first arrested in 2010 on corruption
charges–a non-bailable offense under Ethiopian law–
brought by the Ethiopian Federal Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission, local
journalists said. At the time, Ethiopian government spokesman Bereket Simon told CPJ the journalists had been caught
“red-handed” trying to sell ERTA materials to an unnamed third party.

However, prosecutors repeatedly requested additional time
to carry out investigations and eventually dropped the corruption charges,
amending the accusations to copyright infringement. The journalists were released

on bail in July 2011, having served 15 months, according to
local journalists and news reports.

Haileyesus fled into exile, while Abdulsemed
remained but was unable to work as a journalist, according to local
journalists. Both had worked for the state broadcaster for more than a decade.

Abdulsemed was re-arrested last
month after judges convicted him on copyright charges for possessing copies of
ERTA’s programs without the station’s consent, according to news reports. Haileyesus was convicted in absentia.

“While we’re relieved that Abdulsemed
Mohamed has been released, he should not have spent a single day in prison on
criminal charges that appear frivolous and politically motivated,” CPJ
East Africa Consultant Tom Rhodes said. “This guilty verdict casts a
further chill over a press corps that has been targeted repeatedly by
authorities.”

ERTA, established by the Ethiopian constitution as a
publicly-funded national outlet, operates under the tight grip

of Prime Minister Meles Zenawi’s
ruling party, according to CPJ research. Ahead of 2010 elections, in which the
party swept 99% of parliamentary seats, the Meles
administration replaced senior, independent-minded professional journalists
like Abdulsemed with party loyalists, according to CPJ research

and local
journalists.