Two Ethiopian Journalists Imprisoned

August 24th, 2009 | EthioPolitics.com |

Eskinder Nega

Addis Ababa - The federal high court sentenced two journalists to imprisonment for ”dissemination of false stories”.

The editor of ‘Sefe Nebelbal’, Asrat Wedajo and editor of ‘Selifya’,Ibrahim were convicted and sentenced to one year imprisonment each on Monday by the tenth bench of the federal high court.

Sefe Nebelbal was one of the thirteen papers that were closed down in late 2005, this conviction is for a story that run almost five years ago. The paper was the most popular Oromo centric newspaper at the time of its illegal closure by the government. The Oromos are Ethiopia’s largest ethnic group.

Selefya is an Islamic paper reputed for its advocacy of strict adherence to Koranic principles. It is still in print.

The court turned down a request by the defendants for penalty by monetary fine as opposed to imprisonment.