05/02/08 (B433) ALERTE ROUGE : réalisée par un lecteur que nous remercions au passage, une première approche juridique de l’affaire pénale qui concerne Hasna, montre que le Juge n’a pas respecté la Loi éthiopienne, à plusieurs niveaux..

Le code civil éthiopien est en ligne (en anglais) : il peut être téléchargé en PDF à l’adresse suivante :

________________________________ Première analyse par un lecteur attentif, mais
qui n’est pas juriste de profession …

Je tiens à préciser que la jeune fille peut être considérée comme irresponsable au regard de la loi car elle a été violée et que cela ne doit pas entraîner un état de stabilité absolu.

Concernant la défense possible pour les délits concernant une jeune fille de plus de 15 ans voici des articles :

Même avec plus de 15 ans. Elle peut bénéficier de réduction de peine

Article 56.- Criminals Over Fifteen but Under Eighteen Years of Age.

(1) If at the time of the commission of the crime the criminal was  over fifteen but under eighteen years of age, he shall be tried under the ordinary provisions of this Code.

(2) The Court may, in assessing sentence, take into account the  circumstances of the case, in particular the age of the criminal,  his incorrigible or dangerous disposition and the likelihood of his  reform, either by applying the general provisions regarding ordinary mitigation of penalties (Art. 179) or by applying one of the special penalties specified for young persons (Arts. 166-168).

CHAPTER II

Crime ou délit sous la contrainte:

Article 71.-Absolute Coercion.

Whoever, without causing greater harm than could have suffered, commits a crime under absolute coercion which he could not possibly resist, is not liable to punishment. The person who exercised the coercion shall answer for the crime (Art. 32(1 )(c).

The Court shall determine the existence of absolute coercion, taking into account the circumstances the case, in particular the  degree and nature of the coercion as well as the personal circumstances and the relationship of strength, age or dependency existing between the person who was subjected to coercion and the person who exercised it.

Concernant les circonstances atténuantes :

Article 83.- Special Mitigating Circumstances: Family and Affection Relationships,

(1) In addition to the cases specified under various provisions of this Code to be special mitigating circumstances under Article 180, .the Court shall without restriction, reduce the punishment (Art. 180) when the criminal acted in a manner contrary to the law and in particular failed in his duty to report to the authority or afford it assistance, made a false statement or deposition or supplied false information or assisted a criminal in escaping prosecution or the enforcement of a penalty, for the purpose of not exposing himself, one of his near relatives by blood or marriage or a person with whom he is connected by specially close ties of affection, to a criminal penalty, dishonour or grave injury.

The Court shall examine and determine the existence and adequate nature of the relationships invoked.

(2) If the act with which the accused person is charged was not very grave and if the ties in question were so close and the circumstance SQ impelling that they placed him in a moral dilemma of a particularly harrowing nature the Court may exempt him from punishment other than reprimand or warning (Art.122).

(3) Nothing in this Article shall affect the provisions of Ans. 254(4), 335(3) and 682 (4).

Concernant les crimes ordinaires

Article 89. – Minor Crimes.

In cases of minor crimes the Court may apply provisions of Article 122 relating to reprimands or warning or the provisions of the Law of Petty Offences.

Minor crimes are crimes which are punishable with simple imprisonment not exceeding three months or fine not more than one thousand Birr.

Concernant les condamnations des jeunes entre 15 et 18 ans

Article 177.- Special Case.

(1) Where a young criminal’s physical or mental development is considered to be that of a young person below the age of fifteen or did not commit a serious crime and, according to expert opinion, still seems amenable to curative, educational or corrective measures provided in Section I of this Chapter in respect to young criminals, the Court may by stating its reasons therefor, instead of mitigating the ordinary penalty in accordance with the preceding provision, order one of the aforesaid measures or penalties, in particular his dispatch to a curative or corrective institution.

(2) The curative, educational or corrective measure may under no circumstances be extended beyond legal majority (Art. 163).

The Court may, before the end of the period, review its order with  a view to deciding what length of the period spent in a corrective  institution is to be considered as part of the penalty where it deems it necessary, in particular where it is appropriate to order detention in a penitentiary establishment (Art. 168(2)) upon release from the corrective institution.