Ethiopia: Prosecutors Indict Journalist Temesgen With Three Criminal Counts

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Addis Abeba — Federal Prosecutors indicted journalist Temesgen Desalegn, owner and managing director of the Amharic weekly, "Fitih" magazine, this morning with three separate criminal counts. The charges were formally read to the defendant at the Federal High Court Lideta Branch, First Constitutional and Anti-Terrorism Bench.

Temesgen was first detained on 26 May after the police accused him of "inciting riots and creating public mistrust on the Ethiopian National Defense Forces and the government." He was admitted to hospital for treatment after the police physically assaulted him during family visit on 03 June.

Temesgen, who has been appearing in court since, was arraigned on Tuesday 28 June at the Federal High Court Lideta Division, but prosecutors couldn't read the charges against him in the court due ti absence of presiding judges. The prosecutors however submitted the written lawsuit, but the charges were not formally read to Temesgen.

The defense team, led by defense lawyer Henok Aklilu, had to return home without receiving the written copies of the lawsuit and returned to the court this morning.

This is a developing story for details on the three criminal counts.

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