Temesgen Desalegn – an Ethiopian embodiment of courage

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 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.