Judge rejects appeal of evangelists said to be falsely accused of offering money, gifts.
NAIROBI, Kenya, September 25 (CDN) -
An
Ethiopian court on Monday (Sept. 21) threw out an appeal by two
evangelists said to be falsely accused of offering money and gifts to
people to convert to Christianity, thus upholding their six-month
prison sentences.
Temesgen Alemayehu and Tigist Welde Amanuel of
Wengel Lealem church in Addis Ababa went to Debiretabor, Amhara state,
to plant a church in July. After a week in the area, according to area
Christian sources, their proclamation of Christ led several people to
confess their sins and receive Him as Savior.
On July 19, however, some
passersby began to question the two evangelists, and Christian sources
said a heated argument led to a group attack on the two evangelists,
wounding Alemayehu. Amanuel sustained minor injuries, the sources said,
but managed to escape to a nearby home; the mob followed her into the
compound, demanding she be handed over to them.
The homeowners
refused, saying they would not cooperate with criminals and would
instead hand her over to police. "I would not allow any attack against
the woman," the unidentified owner of the home said, according to one
church leader.
Police arrived at the scene of the attack and
protected Alemayehu from the violent band, made up of members of the
Ethiopian Orthodox Church (EOC), and took him into custody. The
attacking group accused Alemayehu and Amanuel of insulting their
religion.
Christian sources said a group within the EOC called "Mahibere Kidusan"
("Fellowship of Saints") had incited members to attack the two
evangelists as they were proclaiming Christ on the roadside. The
increasingly powerful group's purpose is to counter all reform
movements within the EOC and shield the denomination from outside
threats.
In time the EOC attackers fabricated accusations of
offering money or gifts to make converts, Christian sources said, but
under police questioning Alemayehu and Amanuel said they had only
shared their faith to interested people without making such offers.
They also tried to explain to police that it was their constitutional
right to do so.
Police, however, submitted the attackers' false statements to the district prosecutor, Christian sources said.
False Testimony
On
July 22, Alemayehu and Amanuel appeared at district court in
Debiretabor to hear charges against them. A charge sheet claimed that
they were caught offering money and gifts to people to change their
religion, and Christian sources said witnesses falsely testified to
that effect.
The next day, the court delivered a guilty verdict.
Alemayehu stated that his only sin was telling of his faith in Christ
to interested persons, and that he had a constitutional right to do so.
The judge sentenced him and Amanuel to six months of prison.
Police immediately transferred both Christians to Debiretabor prison.
"There
is an open conspiracy between judges, police and prison officers," the
church leader said. "Police speeded up the investigation and brought it
to the district prosecutor's attention within a day. Witnesses were
organized to falsely testify at court. The judges passed the sentence
refusing the right to defense."
Debiretabor is the seat for
south Gondar Zone administration in Amhara state. As in the rest of
Amhara, Debiretabor's population is predominantly EOC with hostile
attitudes towards evangelicals, Christian sources said. They added that
churches already operating in Debiretabor and surrounding areas meet
with continued EOC resistance.
In some cases, the sources said, EOC priests have urged attacks against Christians, and government authorities influenced by Mahibere Kidusan have
infringed on Christians' rights. It was unknown if the judge and police
officers in Alemayehu and Amanuel's case were under the influence of Mahibere Kidusan, but the local church leader said there were signs of bias in the case.
"Prison
officials are handling both believers with harsh treatments, and after
all these, no one is questioned for either the process or its result,"
the church leader said. "We are waiting for God's intervention on all
this."
In the rejection of the appeal, the high court judge
said that he found "no mistake of law interpretation" to change the
verdict of the lower court, a Christian source said.
"That
means now the two believers have to serve the six-month sentence unless
they appeal and achieve something at the regional State Supreme Court,"
he said. "We heard that the two are thinking of appealing at the
regional State Supreme Court in Bahirdar soon."
Amanuel is
assigned to a cell where criminals including serial killers are serving
their terms, a source said, and they have threatened her. Both she and
Alemayehu continue to share their faith in Christ with other inmates,
in spite of insults from the prisoners.
Church leaders in
Debiretabor said they brought the case to the attention of the regional
state vice president, and that he sent his representative to visit
Alemayehu and Amanuel in prison. The representative discussed the
situation with the district court and with police. Sources said the
visits, however, only exacerbated conditions for the two Christians by
upsetting prison officers.
Starting on Aug. 26, prison
officials forbade visits to Amanuel and Alemayehu for at least 15 days.
They also stopped food from being brought them, a common practice among
all prisoners whose relatives are able to help them.
"I went
on Aug. 20 to meet them in prison, but officers at the gate told me
that they have an order to stop any visitor," the church leader in
Debiretabor said. "I think our report to the regional authorities made
some contribution to this decision."
END
