Addis Ababa,
October 29, 2012/
Wife of ex-Minister charged with funnelling money
The wife of a senior Ethiopian politician was on Monday
charged with funnelling money from the Embassy of Saudi Arabia to
Islamist terror groups, at a hearing at the Ethiopian Federal High
Court, on Monday.
Habiba Mohammed, wife of former
Minister for the Civil Service Junedin Sado, was one of 29 Muslim
activists accused of criminal conspiracy to commit unspecified acts of
terrorism — charges that could attract the death penalty.
Those
arrested were accused of belonging to, or supporting, the “Solution
Seekers of the Muslim Community’s Problems”, a group that the
prosecution contended is a terrorist organisation. Lawyers for the
accused denied the charges.
A predominantly Christian country, Ethiopia has positioned itself as a bulwark in the U.S.-led war on terror in East Africa and has promulgated laws, such as the anti-terrorism proclamation 652 of 2009, which have an unusually broad definition of terrorism.
According to the
prosecution, Ms. Habiba allegedly tried to steal 1.5 million Ethiopian
Birr (approximately Rs. 45 lakh) from the Islamic Council of Ethiopia.
He also allegedly received more than 50,000 ETB from the Saudi Arabian
Embassy to fund “illegal activities” amongst Ethiopia’s Muslim
population.
She was arrested in July this year and
the money was recovered from her car, according to local media reports.
The Embassy of Saudi Arabia could not be reach for comment.
Last
month, Mr. Junedin was expelled from the government and from the Oromo
People’s Democratic Organisation (OPDO), a constituent of the Ethiopian
People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front, the ruling coalition. He
previously served as the president of the OPDO.
In a
letter published prior to his expulsion, Mr. Junedin defended his wife
and criticised the Federal police, prompting a sharp reaction from the
establishment. In the letter, Mr. Junedin said that he had approached
the Saudi Arabian Embassy in his personal capacity to raise money to
build a mosque to fulfil the wishes expressed in the will of his late
mother. The money recovered from his wife, Mr. Junedin said, was meant
for the mosque and not to fund terrorist activities.
Representatives
of Ethiopia’s Muslim community have repeatedly accused the authorities
of interfering in religious matters and promoting a specific sect of
Islam known as Al Ahbash. Protests reached a head this July when police
opened fire at a mosque in Addis Ababa and arrested several prominent
Muslim leaders, who were also presented in court on Monday. Last week,
three Muslim protestors and a policeman were killed in clashes between
protestors and security forces in Gerba in the Amhara region.
Activists contend that the government is using anti-terror legislation to stifle legitimate protests.
In
an interview last month, Minister of state for Communications, Shimeles
Kemal described the protestors as “Extremist Islamists”.
No comments:
Post a Comment