Ethiopia sentences Bereket Simon and Tadesse Kassa to six and eight years imprisonment

The Supreme Court of Amhara Region of Ethiopia today sentenced former TIRET Corporate board members, Bereket Simon and Tadesse Kassa to six and eight years imprisonment, respectively for corruption.

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. A few days ago the Court has ruled that both individuals were guilty of corruption charges.

The corruption charges against the two former government officials include among others is to make the government loss over one billion birr poorly managing the selling of 51% share of Dashen Brewery, one of the companies owned by TIRET Corporate, to a UK company.

Mr. Bereket Simon was one of the influential politicians within the ruling coalition Ethiopian Peoples Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) mainly in Amhara Region politics, especially during the era of the late Prime Minister Meles Zenawi.