(May 13, 2013, (VOA))--A court in Ethiopia has upheld the harsh sentence meted out last year on a journalist and an opposition political figure. A court in Ethiopia has upheld the harsh sentence meted out last year on a journalist and an opposition political figure.
While dismissing two of the four charges, the nation’s Federal Supreme Court upheld the original 18-year prison term for journalist Eskinder Nega and the life sentence for political opposition leader Andualem Arage, saying the sentences were correct and not subject to reduction.
Accused of having links to the outlawed opposition group Ginbot 7, both men were tried under Ethiopia’s strict 2009 Anti-Terrorism Proclamation and under the civil code for high treason for allegedly wanting to spark an Arab Spring-type event in Ethiopia, yet no compelling evidence was presented to suggest that the defendants were engaged in anything more than legitimate political dissent. Read more from Voice of America »
While dismissing two of the four charges, the nation’s Federal Supreme Court upheld the original 18-year prison term for journalist Eskinder Nega and the life sentence for political opposition leader Andualem Arage, saying the sentences were correct and not subject to reduction.
Accused of having links to the outlawed opposition group Ginbot 7, both men were tried under Ethiopia’s strict 2009 Anti-Terrorism Proclamation and under the civil code for high treason for allegedly wanting to spark an Arab Spring-type event in Ethiopia, yet no compelling evidence was presented to suggest that the defendants were engaged in anything more than legitimate political dissent. Read more from Voice of America »
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