Friday, October 31, 2014

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ጋዜጠኛ ተመስገን ደሳለኝ የእስር ቅጣቱን በመቃወም ይግባኝ ሊጠየቅ ነው

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በፌዴራሉ ከፍተኛ ፍርድ ቤት 16ኛ ወንጀል ችሎት ህዝብን ለአመፅ በማነሳሳትና ሀሰተኛ መረጃን በመስጠት በሚል ዐቃቤ ሕግ ክስ መስርቶበት የ3 ዓመት ፅኑ እስራት የተፈረደበት በጋዜጠኛ ተመስገን ደሳለኝ ይግባኝ እንደሚጠይቁ ጠበቃው አቶ አመሀ መኮንን አስታወቁ። ጠበቃው አክለውም፤ ውጤቱ ምንም ይሁን ምን ሕጉ እስከፈቀደው ድረስ ማንኛውንም መድረክ አሟጠን እንጠቀማለን ሲሉ ተናግረዋል። ይግባኝ እንደሚጠይቁ ጠቁመው ያም ሆኖ የተለየ ውጤት ካልተገኘ እስከሰበር ችሎት እንደርሳለን ብለዋል።
በተከሳሹ ላይ ፍርድ ቤቱ የጥፋተኝነት ብይን ከሰጠ በኋላ ስለምን የቅጣት ማቅለያ አላቀረባችሁም ተብሎ ከሰንደቅ ጋዜጣ ለቀረበላቸው ጥያቄ ሲመልሱም፤ በመርህ ደረጃ ጥፋተኛ መባል አልነበረበትም፤ አሁን ጉዳዩ ብዙ ዓመት የመታሰርና ትንሽ ዓመት የመታሰር ብቻ ሳይሆን በዋናነት ለቅጣት ቅነሳ መከራከሪያችን ለህግ ጥፋቱን የማመን ምልክት ስላለው አልፈለግንም።
Temesghen Desalegn (CPJ)cropped
አመፅን ለመቀስቀስ በመሰናዳት ወንጀል ተሳትፎ፤ ሕገ-መንግስቱንና ህገመንግስታዊ ስርዓቱን በኃይል ለመናድ የሚያነሳሱ ፅሁፎችን በቀድሞዋ ፍትህ ጋዜጣ ላይ ሲያሰፍር ነበር በሚል የፌዴራሉ ዐቃቤ ሕግ ክስ የመሰረተበት ጋዜጠኛ ተመስገን ደሳለኝ፤ ጥፋተኛ የተባለበት ግዙፍ ያልሆነ የማሰናዳት ወንጀል ሥር በ3 ዓመት ፅኑ እስራት እንዲቀጣ ሲል ፍርድ ቤት ባሳለፍነው ሰኞ ጥቅምት 12 ቀን 2007 ዓ.ም የቅጣት ውሳኔውን አስተላልፏል።
ዐቃቤ ሕግ በፌዴራል ከፍተኛ ፍርድ ቤት 16ኛ ወንጀል ችሎት ሶስት ክሶችን በጋዜጠኛው ላይ አቅርቦ በሰውና በሰነድ ማስረጃዎች አስረድቷል። ተከሳሹም ከተከሰሰባቸው ወንጀሎች ነፃ ያወጡኛል ያላቸውን የሰውና የሰነድ ማስረጃዎች ለፍርድ ቤቱ አቅርቦ የተከራከረ ቢሆንም፤ ችሎቱ የግራ ቀኙን መረጃ መርምሮ ጥቅምት 3 ቀን 2007 ዓ.ም ጥፋተኛ ነህ ብሎት እንደነበር ይታወሳል።
በዐቃቤ ሕግ የክስ ዝርዝር የተጠቀሱት ፍሬ ሀሳቦች መካከል በአንደኛው ክስ ሥር “ሞትን የማይፈሩ ወጣቶች” በሚል ርዕስ ነሐሴ 23 ቀን 2003 ዓ.ም ጋዜጠኛ ተመስገን ደሳለኝ በፃፈው ሀተታ ውስጥ ወጣቶች ለአብዮትና ለለውጥ እንዲነሳሱ በማድረግ፤ በአረቡ አለም ወጣቶች የነበራቸውን ሚና በመጥቀስ አሁን ያለውን ስርዓት ለመቀየር ወጣቶች ለአመፅ እንዲነሳሱ አድርጓል የሚል ነው።
በ2ኛ ክስ ስር የተዘረዘረው ሀሳብ ደግሞ “የሁለተኛ ዜግነት ህይወት በኢትዮጵያ እስከመቼ?” በሚል ርዕስ ሐምሌ 22 ቀን 2003 ዓ.ም በፍትህ ጋዜጣ ባወጣው ሀተታ ስር መንግስት በተለያዩ ክልሎች የጅምላ ጭፍጨፋ ፈፅሟል በማለት የአገሪቱን መንግስት ስም በማጥፋትና በሀሰት ወንጅሏል የሚል ክስ ተመስርቶበታል።
ዐቃቤ ሕግ 3ኛ ክስ አድርጎ ያቀረበው ደግሞ በመጋቢት 7 ቀን 2004 ዓ.ም በታተመችው ፍትህ ጋዜጣ ላይ “ሲኖዶሱና መጅሊሱ የአብዮታዊ ዴሞክራሲ ማጥመቂያ” ሲል ባሰፈረው ፅሁፍ መንግስት የሃይማኖት ተቋማቱን ለፖለቲካዊ ዓላማ እየተጠቀመባቸው ስለመሆኑ በማተት የህዝብን እምነት እንዲሸረሸር አድርጓል ሲል ይከሰዋል።
ተከሳሹ ጋዜጠኛ ተመስገን ደሳለኝ፤ ለፍርድ ቤቱ አቅርቧቸው በነበሩ የሰውና የሰነድ ማስረጃዎች አማካኝነት በጥቅሉ፤ የጋዜጠኝነት ተግባሩን እየተወጣ በመሆኑንና በዚህም ህገ መንግስቱ የሰጠውን ኀሰብን የመግለፅ ነፃነት ተጠቅሞ ሥራውን ማከናወኑን ባቀረባቸው የመከላከያ ምስክሮች ጭምር አስረድቷል።
ሆኖም የግራ ቀኙን ክርክር ሲመረምር የቆየው የፌዴራሉ ከፍተኛ ፍርድ ቤት 16ኛ ወንጀል ችሎት ጥቅምት 3 ቀን 2007 ዓ.ም ጥፋተኛ ማለቱን ተከትሎ ባሳለፍነው ሰኞ የቅጣት ውሳኔውን አስተላልፏል። በዚህም የውሳኔ ንባብ ወቅት ፍርድ ቤቱ እንዳለው፤ ምንም እንኳን ተከሳሹ ጥፋተኛ ቢባልም የቀረቡበት 3 ክሶች በአንድ ሃሳብ ሊጠየቅ የሚገባው ነው በሚል፤ በወንጀል ህጉ የመገፋፋትና ግዙፍ ያልሆነ የማሰናዳት ተግባር ወንጀል ብቻ ይቀጣ ማለቱን ተከትሎ ምንም አይነት የቅጣት ማቅለያ ባላቀረበው ጋዜጠኛ ተመስገን ደሳለኝ ላይ የ3 ዓመት ፅኑ እስራት ፈርዶበታል።
በተያያዘም አሳታሚው ማስተዋል የህትመትና ማስታወቂያ ኃ/የተ/የግ ማህበር ላይ ዐቃቤ ሕግ አቅርቦት የነበረው የንብረት ይወርስልኝ ጥያቄን ፍርድ ቤቱ ወደጎን በመተው የ10ሺህ ብር የገንዘብ ቅጣት ጥሎበታል።
ምንጭ፦ zehabesha 

Wednesday, October 29, 2014

Temesgen Desalegn – an Ethiopian embodiment of courage

October 29, 2014
by Hindessa Abdul
In one of his articles Temesgen discusses how the struggle of the Ethiopian opposition and other activists were reduced from raising political and civil liberty issues to merely demanding the release of opposition figures or imprisoned journalists. Ironic as it may seem, now the 37 years old is in the later’s shoes and rest assured others certainly will not stop demanding his release.Temesgen Desalegn, publisher and editor
Temesgen Desalegn, publisher and editor of the now defunct Feteh and a couple of other newspapers, has been found guilty of articles that were published in his paper between July 2011 and March 2012.
The five page charges for the most part interrelate to each other. On top of that, some of the charges listed negate the very essence of journalism. One of the charges states “with a view to change the mindset of the youth.” The whole point of writing is the fight for the hearts and minds of citizens; to contribute to making an informed debate and decision making. Devoid of such ordinary logic, the charges evolve around incitement, mischaracterization of the government, manipulation and defamation.
Five articles written in that time frame were presented as evidence. After two years long deliberation, the Federal High Court found the defendant guilty as charged. On October 27,2014, he was sentenced to three years in prison.
Temesgen’s imprisonment was hardly unexpected. He was a vocal critic of the ruling party. As such he has been detained several times. He shared his prison stint with readers in various blogs he posted regularly.
Temesgen’s articles stand out as well thought, analytical and empirical. His knowledge of the country’s current affaires, with all its intricacies and complexities, is almost unparalleled. Even long after all his publications were shut down, Temesgen never missed an opportunity to pen his views and analysis on current affairs.
In an unusual tribute, a veteran economist and politician Bulcha Demeksa recently commended him as a knowledgable, fearless journalist whose gut has inspired many a youth.
The popular Amharic weekly Feteh was shut down in July 2012 in a dramatic manner, the last publication was seized from the government owned printing press. To add insult to injury, the printing house forfeited the money amounting to a little over $4,000.
Not to be completely outdone, the indefatigable chronicler of the country’s state of affaires had earlier managed to publish a collection of his articles in a book entitled Yemeles Amelko ( Worshipping Meles). The book was a huge success that it had to be reprinted a number of times.
For now Temesgen doesn’t seem to be that concerned about the sentence as he is adamant about his innocence. His lawyer Amha Mekonnen told VOA Amharic that they declined to present mitigating circumstances for that is tantamount to admitting guilt. So their next move is to appeal the court’s decision. As Temesgen’s favorite metaphor has it, his journey won’t stop until he gets to Golgotha! He is determined to relive that moment by challenging the judiciary where ever it takes him. Here’s to idealism.
source ECADF 

Tuesday, October 28, 2014

Amnesty Says Ethiopia Detains 5,000 Oromos Illegally Since 2011

October 28, 2014
by William Davison (Bloomberg)
Ethiopia’s government illegally detained at least 5,000 members of the country’s most populous ethnic group, the Oromo, over the past four years as it seeks to crush political dissent, Amnesty International said.Amnesty International
Victims include politicians, students, singers and civil servants, sometimes only for wearing Oromo traditional dress, or for holding influential positions within the community, the London-based advocacy group said in a report today. Most people were detained without charge, some for years, with many tortured and dozens killed, it said.
“The Ethiopian government’s relentless crackdown on real or imagined dissent among the Oromo is sweeping in its scale and often shocking in its brutality,” Claire Beston, the group’s Ethiopia researcher, said in a statement. “This is apparently intended to warn, control or silence all signs of ‘political disobedience’ in the region.”
The Oromo make up 34 percent of Ethiopia’s 96.6 million population, according to the CIA World Factbook. Most of the ethnic group lives in the central Oromia Regional State, which surrounds Addis Ababa, the capital. Thousands of Oromo have been arrested at protests, including demonstrations this year against what was seen as a plan to annex Oromo land by expanding Addis Ababa’s city limits.
Muslims demonstrating about alleged government interference in religious affairs were also detained in 2012 and 2013, Amnesty said in the report, titled: ‘Because I am Oromo’ – Sweeping Repression in the Oromia Region of Ethiopia.

Government Denial

The state-run Oromia Justice Bureau said the findings were “far from the truth” in a reply to Amnesty included in the report. “No single individual has been and would not be subjected to any form of harassment, arrest or detention, torture for exercising the freedom of expression or opinion.”
The majority of detainees are accused of supporting the Oromo Liberation Front, which was formed in 1973 to fight for self-determination, according to Amnesty.
Senior Oromo politicians Bekele Gerba and Olbana Lelisa were jailed in 2012 for working with the group, which was classified as a terrorist organization by lawmakers in 2011.
“The accusation of OLF support has often been used as a pretext to silence individuals openly exercising dissenting behavior,” Amnesty said.
The bulk of Amnesty’s information came from interviews with 176 refugees in Kenya, Somalia and Uganda in July this year and July 2013. More than 40 telephone and e-mail conversations were also conducted with people in Ethiopia, it said.
Some interviewees said they fled the country because of conditions placed on them when released, such as being told to avoid activism, meeting in small groups, or associating with relatives who were political dissenters, the report said.
Amnesty has been banned from Ethiopia since 2011 when its staff was deported.

torchure