May 14, 2013 | Associated Press
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia — An Ethiopian court ruled Tuesday that prosecutors have two weeks to finalize corruption charges against two dozen people who have been arrested, including a senior Cabinet minister.
The 24 people charged include the head of Ethiopia’s revenue and customs authority, Melaku Fenta. They are accused of illegal trading and tax evasion.
Ethiopia’s top anti-corruption official, Ali Sulaiman, told parliament Tuesday that the suspects had been under surveillance for over two years.
Prosecutors Monday requested permission to keep the suspects in custody for two more weeks for questioning. The suspects asked to be released on bail.
The country’s intelligence agency and corruption watchdog announced the arrests of 13 people over the weekend. But court documents now show an expanded list of suspects that includes family members of the accused.
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Police seized millions of dollars and millions of birrs in cash from the private residence of Gebrewahid Woldegiorgis.
ReplyDeleteThe courts are not specifying the correct amount of cash that was seized because they are corrupt and want to steal some of it.
The courts are corrupted through bribes , political manipulation, intimidation and domination.
Gebrewahid is the latest fall-guy in the ongoing power struggle inside the ruling junta. He is no more corrupt than any of the other acting or retired TPLF officials who have been sucking the life blood of Ethiopia during the past 20 years.