Former communications Minister in Ethiopia, Bereket Simon, has been sentenced to 6 years in jail for corruption.
He and a former top civil servant, Tadesse Kassa, were both jailed today at the Supreme Court in Ethiopia’s Amhara regional state.
They have also been fined 10,000 and 15,000 Ethiopian birr respectively. The court added that the sentence could be appealed.
In January 2019, Mr. Bereket Simon and Tadesse Kassa were arrested for corruption in relation to TIRET Corporate, one of the ruling party mega-corporate owning 14 businesses.
Earlier this week, the Court ruled that both individuals were guilty of corruption charges and reserved judgment for today.
Simon was found guilty on two counts while Tadesse was found guilty on three counts of the four charges leveled against them. A third co-defendant, businessman Daniel Gizaw, was cleared of all charges.
Their sentence starts from January 23, 2019, when they were arrested.