The judge presiding over the Ayat case rejected all the objections of the defence lawyers, on May 11, 2010, on the charges instituted by the prosecutors of the Ethiopian Revenues and Customs Authority (ERCA); the defendants pleaded not guilty during the same hearing.

The defence lawyers raised nine objections on April 27, 2010, including a request for the 27 charges to be consolidated into three charges. Other objections included that the prosecutors of the ERCA did not have the mandate to institute a charge on illegal banking and money laundering, that sales on credit was not illegal, that corporate criminal liability did not apply in this case, and that the charge on money laundering did not fulfil the criteria in the Criminal Code.

A mandate can be acquired not only through the law but also through an agreement (contract), the judge said, and confirmed that this happened with the June 2009 agreement between the ERCA and the Ministry of Justice (MoJ). That agreement gave the ERCA the go-ahead to file charges against seven individuals, one of whom, as indicated in a letter from the MoJ presented as evidence by the prosecutors, was Ayalew Tessema.

Other objections of the defence lawyers will be addressed during the examination of evidence in the trial process, the judge said. All the defendants, including the Real Estate Company, represented by Ayalew, pleaded not guilty to all of the charges. The case was adjourned to June 3, 2010, at which time the prosecutors are expected to present their witnesses.

By MIKIAS SEBSIBE
FORTUNE STAFF WRITER