የፍትህ ጋዜጣ ዋና አዘጋጅ የነበረው ጋዜጠኛ ተመስገን ደሳለኝ በዛሬው ቀን በዋለው ችሎት 3 አመት ጽኑ እስራት ተፈረደበት፡፡ ፍትህን ሲያሳትም የነበረውና ሁለተኛ ተከሳሽ የሆነው ማስተዋል ህትመትና ማስታወቂያ በ10 ሺህ ብር ቅጣት ተጥሎበታል፡፡
ጋዜጠኛ ተመስገን ደሳለኝ ጥቅም 3/2007 ዓ.ም የመንግስትን ስም ማጥፋት፣ ህዝብን ማነሳሳትና የህዝብን አመለካከት ማናወጽ በሚሉ ሶስት ክሶች ጥፋተኛ የተባለ ሲሆን አሁን የተፈረደበት በትኛው እንደሆነ ባይታወቅም በአንደኛው ክስ ነው ተብሏል፡፡ የጥፋነኝነት ክሱ በተነበበት ወቅት ግን ‹‹መንግስት ይገድላል፣ ያፍናል፣ ይጨቁናል ብሎ ጽፏል፡፡›› በሚል ጥፋተኝ ነው ተብሏል፡፡
አቃቢ ህግ የቅጣት ማክበጃ ያላቀረበ ሲሆን ጋዜጠኛ ተመስገን ደሳለኝም ሆነ ጠበቃው የቅጣት ማቅለያ አላቀረቡም፡፡ በሌላ በኩል የጋዜጠኛው ጠበቃ አምሃ መኮንን ይግባኝ እንደሚጠይቁ አስታውቀዋል፡፡ (ምንጭ: ነገረ ኢትዮጵያ)
Again this is a no-no. With all the enormous media capabilities the regime has, this sentencing is not just and rather superfluous. The regime has unrivaled means of discrediting what is said or written on what is left of the private media. It has (I justifiably assume) tens of thousands political cadres, the only TV network and the Radio mass media that can reach every locality in the country. It can use such resources to discredit what is ‘falsely’ alleged. This is something like saying “I am strong and dominant. I can do anything I want to you if you say or write something I may not like and I am the only one who can decide what is likable, legal, illegal, inciting, terrorist message etc…” Such measures have all the signs of a victor’s revenge. You have all seen me on this and other websites extolling the peace loving and harmonious traditions of our people. I mean that backed by a well documented history. This does not mean such sacred qualities are indestructible. They can be sent asunder with pressing external factors taking advantage of internal fuel. Such jailing of journalists can only create internal fuel. In a country where self censorship is confined to the cultured common citizen with millions of them can not still read or write and where we are at the mercy of exaggeration of events seeping into our mode of communication or expression of what is on our minds, these wants can only be corrected and nurtured through a democratic discourse. History has shown in an indisputable way that single party system is unsustainable and its demise in not only if but when. I am aware of the fact that democracy does not come in one fits all format. It is a work-in-process task by all parties but does not mean persecution is the main method. It is impossible to mold a human mind in ones way, especially in this day and age. The Godless Soviets had tried that for more than 70 years. North Korea has been trying to do just that since the 1940’s. Even Mengistu had a good run with that with his stinking boots on. All failed and all their relentless effort ended in vain. I think the best thing the regime can do now is release the journalists it jails for this or that reason. It should know that with all that industrialization they accomplished for their countries, the Chiang Kai-Shek of Taiwan, The Park Chung-hee of South Korea, Pinochet of Chile and others like them seemed invincible for sometime. But they all fell from grace at one point or another and fell in not dignified ways. But some others mended their ways and their countries have become fully functioning democracies. Stubbornness in guerrilla warfare is one thing but governing in the same manner is completely of a different matter with undesirable consequences.
As always, this is my a dime (I am charging more now-lol) worth of opinion.