Final Teddy verdict in 15 days

Late last Friday afternoon, the Appeal Court of Cassation at the Federal Supreme Court adjourned the case of Tewodros Kassahun, popularly known as Teddy Afro, to June 11, 2009, for a final verdict.

Teddy was jailed on April 16, 2008, for a charge of killing a homeless boy in a car accident and fleeing the scene. When the verdict was reached he was sentenced to six years in prison and fined 18,000 birr by the Federal High Court 8th Criminal Bench in December, 2008.

The appeal judge, Justice Dagne Melaku, at the Federal Supreme Court announced the court sustained the guilty verdict, but reduced the sentence, adjudicating that the deceased had a role in the accident that cost him his life. Because of this, the court cut the original sentence to two years and the fine to 11,000 birr in February this year.

The decision was based on the finding that the deceased was unconscious due to alcohol consumption and was sleeping in the middle of the road when the accident occurred. Due to a lack of lighting, the court reasoned it would be almost impossible for a driver to spot a person at night.

But Million Assefa, Teddy’s lawyer, opposed the court’s decision and he went to appeal at the Cassation Bench of the Federal Supreme Court.

Teddy has already served almost 13 months in jail and with a probable probation for good behavior he should be free in less than a year. If probation is given it is four months per year in jail, so the singer gets eight months of probation which slashes his stay in jail to six months from now.

However, the length of his imprisonment is dependent on the final verdict.
Teddy Afro entered the Ethiopian music scene in 2001, and has made three albums since and a number of singles. He was well accepted by the audience for his varied style and his powerful lyrics that he wrote himself.

His die-hard fans, however, still refuse to accept he could be guilty, continuing to maintain that he is the victim of a political vendetta because Teddy Afro’s music was identified with the opposition’s cause at the time of the controversial 2005 elections.