An Ethiopian woman with her Bible.
Photo: World Watch Monitor
Subsequent to their initial court hearing last September, four Ethiopian teenagers are reported to be in good health following their release from prison on December 22nd. Despite the fact that three of the girls were minors, all four were pronounced guilty in November of "inciting religious violence" for merely distributing Christian literature.
Gifti, (14), Mihiret (14), Eden (15) and Deborah (18) served their one-month sentence at a large prison in Gelemiso alongside criminals. The Christian girls were distributing books in the eastern Ethiopian town of Babile, not far from Harar -- a city recognized by the community as the fourth holy city of Islam -- when they were arrested.
Local militant Muslims considered the book the girls were distributing an insult to Islam. Angered over their distribution efforts, the militants led an attack upon the Protestant Meserete Kristos Church in Babile on September 19th, and instigated the arrest and conviction of the four teens. A previous report on the girls' arrest may be reviewed here.
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