A top journalist in Ethiopia has been handed a one-and-half year jail term on charges of public provocation to commit “crimes against the external security and defensive power” of the state. Getachew Shirafew, was convicted by the court on Wednesday after spending the last year-and-five months in jail. He was arrested in December 2015 and has since been held by the authorities. Today's groundless ruling is a further slap in the face for justice in Ethiopia and proof of the authorities' continued willingness ... to misuse the criminal justice system to silence dissent. The sentence follows an appeal by his lawyer Shibiru Belete Birru for a minimum sentence as the charges carried up to 20 years prison sentence, local media Fana Broadcasting Corporate reported Thursday.

Source: Ethiopian News May 26, 2017 09:22 UTC