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Seeye Abraha, former strongman of the TPLF, made his
way out of jail on Wednesday, June 11, after spending six
years there, accused of involvement in grand
corruption. He was released a day after the Federal
Supreme Court sentenced him for five years
imprisonment and 500 Br fine.
"I am pleased to join my family and see them happy,"
Seeye told Fortune on Wednesday late
afternoon, in a telephone interview he gave from his
home.
He was not the only one to have received sentences
on Tuesday, June 10, 2007.
Tamrat Layne, prime minister during the transitional
period, was also served a three-month sentence. Both
former senior government officials were accused by
the Federal Ethics and Anticorruption Commission of
abuse of office in aiding their associates gain
benefits in accessing bank loans, acquiring trucks
and buying state properties from the government
through privatization.
This is a case that has been long fought following
the top party leadership rupture in the Tigray
Peoples' Liberation Front (TPLF) in early 2000.
Coming out after a bloody conflict with Eritrea,
some members held the view that a threat in the
leadership was to surrender the party to foreign
'imperialist' interests. This group included Seeye,
while others who still hold power today, including
Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, argued that the ruling
party was sinking into decadence, describing it at
the time as transformation into Bonapartism. They
accused some members of the party leadership of
involvement in grand corruption.
It is following this unprecedented rift within the
TPLF that Seeye was arrested and accused of abuse of
power in order to benefit his brothers, as the
Commission filed charges in July 2002.
Tamrat was accused of helping a businessman, Kahsay
Abay, import five used trucks without paying duties
in 1992. Kahsay, whose case has been tried in
abstention, was sentenced to serve six years in
jail.
Tamrat was sentenced to an
18-year term in 1997 after he was convicted of abuse
of power. He was charged by prosecutors from the
Ministry of Justice (MoJ) for the Commission was not
established then and the country did not have
anticorruption legislations.
The Supreme Court said, however, that had this new
charge by the Commission been brought against Tamrat
at the time, the additional sentence would have been
three months.
Tamrat was the founder and leader of the former
Ethiopian People Democratic Movement (EPDM), member
of the alliance in the ruling Ethiopian People's
Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF). The party
has since changed its name to the Amhara National
Democracy Movement (ANDM), after the EPRDF took
power.
Seeye, who was one of the founders of TPLF and later
defence minister during the transitional period, was
charged on two counts; he was accused of pressuring
the state owned Commercial Bank of Ethiopia (CBE) to
release loans to his brother, Mihretab Abraha, and
helping him get a 19pc discount when the latter
acquired 15 trucks from AMCE, a joint venture trucks
assembly plant where the state controls 30pc.
The Supreme Court, however, dropped the first charge
last week, while it convicted Seeye on the charge
that he helped his brother to get the discounts on
seven of the 15 trucks. Mihretab was sentenced to
five years imprisonment and a 1,000 Br fine.
Prosecutors are not happy about the ruling.
"For us, our main charge against Seeye was his abuse
of power in influencing the CBE in order to help his
brother get a loan to buy trucks," Abuhay Guade,
chief prosecutor of the Commission, told Fortune.
"We are not happy that the Court dropped this
charge.”
Neither is Seeye happy for spending six years in
jail.
"I should not have spent a day in jail, let alone
six years," he told Fortune.
In his first brief interview he gave to Fortune
since his detention, Seeye questioned the
independence of the judiciary, although acknowledged
that the judicial system has also "created strong
judges". He paid tribute to former judges such as
Birtukan Mideksa, who had granted his release on
bail six years ago and now behind bars as one of the
CUD leaders, Friehiwot Samuel and Michael Meshesha.
"I've seen and learn a lot about the supremacy of
the law and judicial independence in this country,"
Seeye told Fortune. "Better than any time
before, I've come to learn that these are important
milestones for a country whether you are in business
or politics."
The Abraha family has another embattling brother
convicted last week.
Assefa Abraha, Seeye’s younger brother and former
chairman of the once Ethiopian Privatisation Agency,
received a sentence of nine years imprisonment,
while the former general manager of the Agency,
Beshah Azmte, was sentenced to eight years behind
bars. The businessmen, Fitsumze'ab Asgedom and
Heraier Behesnilian, were also charged along with
Assefa and Beshah, with Fitsumze'ab, publisher of
The Monitor, receiving a five-year term.
However, the sentence on Heraier, a major
shareholder of Hagbes Plc, importer of vehicles,
generators and machineries, remains to be read to
the jury as he is abroad for medical treatment.
In the case of Fistumezeab, brother-in-law to Assefa,
the Commission accused them of involvement in
corruption when transferring ownership of Harar
Printing Press, Gulele Soap Factory and Taitu Hotel;
they were convicted only on the sale of the soap
factory. The Court also has found them guilty of
providing unlawful advantage to Heraier in the sale
of Debre Zeit Flour Mill.
However, none of them but Tamrat will remain behind
bars either because they have been jailed for over
five years during the time of their litigation or
they will be released on probation, expect family
members.
The response from the Prosecution is not clear
whether they will want to take the case further to
panel of justices.
“We need to review a copy of the decision before we
state our position on the sentences, considering the
charges we had made before a week,” the Chief
Prosecutor told Fortune.
Kalayu Mehari, attorney for Abraha’s family, also
declined to comment on the ruling before reading a
copy of the decision.
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