Ethiopian journalist sentenced to more than two years in jail for false rumors

by zemen

Ethiopia jails reporter for spreading rumors

Source: AP

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia — The Committee to Protect Journalists is urging the release of an Ethiopian journalist who was sentenced to more than two years in jail on the charge of spreading false rumors.

The watchdog group said Asfaw Berhanu, a former contributor to the private paper The Reporter, was convicted on Dec. 25 of charges stemming from a news story he wrote saying three government officials had been removed from their posts. An Ethiopian court sentenced him to two years and nine months in jail.

Berhanu’s paper later retracted the story and then fired him, the group said.

Ethiopia is among the world’s top jailers of journalists, says the journalists’ committee.

The Ethiopian government is accused of criminalizing the coverage of any group the government deems to be terrorists, including opposition political parties.

Ethiopian journalist sentenced to more than two years in jail

Source: CPJ

Nairobi, December 30, 2013-An Ethiopian court convicted a journalist on December 25 on the charge of spreading false rumors and sentenced him to two years and nine months in prison, according to local journalists.

The First Instance Court in Hawassa, capital of the state of Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples’ Regions, convicted Asfaw Berhanu, former contributor to the private bilingual paper The Reporter, in connection with a September 4 article he wrote for the publicationthat claimed three state government officials had been removed from their posts, local journalists said.

The officials had not actually been dismissed from their posts, the sources said. The Reporter issued a front-page retraction in its next edition and dismissed Asfaw, Reporter Managing Director Kaleyesus Berkeley said.

Asfaw is being held in Hawassa Prison, local journalists said. He plans to appeal the sentence, the same sources said.
“Asfaw Berhanu should not be jailed for making a mistake, especially after the Reporter apologized and issued a retraction,” said CPJ East Africa Representative Tom Rhodes. “Authorities should release Asfaw from prison immediately.”

On October 10, three policemen visited The Reporter office in Addis Ababa and arrested Managing Editor Melaku Demissie, taking him for questioning in connection with the September 4 news report, according to local journalists and news reports. The police commissioner ordered his release the same day, Melaku told CPJ.

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