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The Federal High Court ordered the release of five
Yeka District officials and a businessman on
December 3, 2007, on 3,000 Br bail after they stayed
six months in remand. The six suspects were accused
by the Federal Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission
for alleged illegal issuance of deeds for land in
Legatafo, in the outskirts of Addis Abeba.
The bail was granted after the commission’s
prosecutor asked for a lighter sentence. Initially,
prosecutors asked for 15-year prison terms, under
which circumstances the suspects would not have
received the right to bail. However, prosecutors
later asked for prison terms below 10 years, which
would allow the suspects to receive bail.
The six suspects were set free a day after the court
gave them bail rights early last week, after
languishing for six months in remand. The suspects
include Ambasader Tsegaye, acting head of department
at Yeka District’s land development and
Administration; Haile Hagos, team leader of lease
implementation; Garedew Gashawbeza, team leader of
the land development and administration; Akalu
Kebede, land administration, undersign and
registration’s officer and Tefera Waqweya,
businessman.
The commission’s prosecutor charged the five
District officers for having illegally transferred
deed to 47,560sqm of land in Legatafo to Tefera, who
does animal fattening. The commission’s prosecutor,
however, later amended the allegations, saying that
since the deed to the land has been cancelled by
another government office, the damages of the crime
were lessened, and hence should carry a lighter
sentence.
The arrests of the Yeka District officials were part
of a larger crackdown that led to more than 100
officials from different districts being apprehended
on charges related to illegal land transfers. The
Yeka District officials, however, are the first to
receive bail, possibly setting a precedent that may
lead to the release of other officials.
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