Friday, 13 July 2012

AWARD WINNING JOURNALIST SENT TO JAIL FOR 18YRS WITHOUT PAROLE IN ETHIOPIAN



An Ethiopian court jailed a journalist for 18yrs for "Terrorism".  Veteran Journalist and blogger  Eskinder Nga and 23 others, made up of reporters and activists got between eight years to life, after a trial that has being condemned by human right groups.
Eskinder got 18yrs while opposition member Andualem Arage got life because of the "Heaviness of the case" after he was convicted of participating with an outlawed group said Judge Hussein Yimer said.

Both men were found guilty of participating in a terrorist organisation and planning a terrorist act,  Andualem was also found guilty of serving as a leader or decision maker of a terrorist organisation while Eskinder was also convicted of working with the outlawed Ginbot 7 group that is considered a terrorist group under Ethiopian law, this was what had aggravated his sentence the Judge said.
They were found guilty of terrorism last month.
Five days before his arrest Eskinder wrote this quotes "Freedom is partial to no race. Freedom has no religion. Freedom favours no ethnicity."  In may he was awarded the prestigious PEN/Barbara Goldsmith America's Freedom to Write annual prize.



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