No fewer than 17 Muslim activists have been given lengthy prison sentences by an Ethiopian court ranging from seven to 22 years on charges they plotted to create an Islamic state in the majority Christian country.
A journalist for a Muslim newspaper was also sentenced for conspiring with the activists, the court in Addis Ababa said.
(Ecad Forum)
The
defendants, who all denied the charges, were arrested in 2012 on
charges of plotting to stage attacks to create an Islamic state in
Ethiopia, which has a sizable Muslim minority, Christian Today reports.
The
sentencing comes as Ethiopia faces increasing scrutiny from human
rights groups that have regularly accused it of arresting activists,
journalists and bloggers to stamp out dissent. The government dismisses
the allegations.
The activists were arrested
during protests between 2011 and 2013 by Muslims - a rare event in this
tightly-controlled country - who accused the government of interference
in their affairs. Officials have denied this.
It
was gathered that the the protesters accused the government of trying to
impose a little-known Islamic sect called Al-Ahbash on the country's
Muslim population as a moderate bulwark against the hardline Islam it
believes is being spread by extremist preachers.
Ethiopian Muslim leaders say their community follows traditional Sufi-inspired Islam and not any radical movement.
The
court sentenced four of the activists to 22 years in jail, five to 18
years, another five to 15 years and four defendants to seven years
behind bars. One in the last group was the journalist working for the
Muslim newspaper.
