An Ethiopian court has rejected the appeal of an Evangelical Christian who was sentenced to prison in February for allegedly offending members of the Orthodox Church.

Temesgen Mitiku Mezemir, who leads an Evangelical fellowship group, was sentenced to seven years in prison after he was found guilty by a judge in the southern city of Arba Minch on Feb. 2 of defaming the tabot, a replica of the Ark of the Covenant sacred to Orthodox Christians. According to World Watch Monitor, an appeal was immediately lodged by his lawyers, but the verdict was upheld by another court on March 19.

The charges against Mezemir were lodged after he allegedly told members of the predominant Ethiopian Orthodox Church (EOC) to compare Orthodox accounts of the tabot with information available on the Ark of the Covenant on the Internet.

During the hearing on Jan. 23, the judge reportedly invited court attendees to share their opinion about the accused instead of hearing the prosecutor's witnesses.

Mezemir and his fellow Evangelicals were then reportedly injured when they were attacked outside the court after the hearing and the judge was removed from the case before a second hearing took place on Jan. 26 amid heavy security.

During the hearing, Mezemir denied accusations he downloaded a picture of the tabot to insult the EOC, saying he wanted to use it only as reference. 

After Mezemir's sentencing, local Evangelicals expressed fears that the verdict could lead to more accusations and actions against members of their community.

Just before the Orthodox celebration of Epiphany on Jan. 19, Evangelicals were reportedly blamed for the disappearance of a festive banner and Orthodox leaders had called on people to defend their religion, after which dozens of people believed to be EOC members from Arba Minch broke into the meeting place of the Evangelicals, destroying their pulpit and furniture, and taking instruments, World Watch Monitor reports.