Tsion Girma faces up to one year in prison, according to her former lawyer, Kassahun Asefa. The October 3rd, 2008, edition of “Enbilta” mistakenly identified the judge overseeing the high-profile trial of Ethiopian pop musician, Tewodros Kassahun, as Judge Mohamed Amin instead of Judge Mohamed Umer, Girma told CPJ last week. “Enbilta” did not correct the mistake but used the right name in the following edition, Girma said.
“Enbilta” is one of a few politically critical independent publications that still exist in Ethiopia after a government crackdown on the independent press in the aftermath of the 2005 elections.
“It is outrageous that a journalist can be convicted over a reporting error,” said CPJ Africa Program Coordinator Tom Rhodes. “This conviction cannot stand. Tsion Girma should not be sent to prison.”
Girma is the second journalist to face criminal charges this year over coverage of Kassahun’s trial. Editor, Mesfin Negash, of the leading weekly “Addis Neger” was sentenced to a one-month suspended prison term for publishing an interview with the singer’s lawyer that was critical of the former judge overseeing the trial.
Ethiopian authorities routinely use police detentions, threats, and legal and administrative restraints to censor reporting. CPJ named Ethiopia the world’s worst backslider on press freedom in 2007.
For more information on the Girma case, please see:http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/97883
