Tesfaye Birru’s appeal rejected

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia - The Federal Cassation Court decided not to hear the appeal of former Ethiopian Telecommunication Corporation Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Tesfaye Birru on Monday, October 1, Capital learned.  The appeal was filed after the lower court ruled on two charges in connection to contract bid with Ericsson and a case involving broadband Internet.

At the Cassation Court, Tesfaye Birru’s (PhD) lawyers argued that the court made their ruling based on  a regulation approved in October 2004 despite the fact that the  infraction occurred in 2003. At the time of the broadband Internet debacle, the lawyers argued, Management Committee and Telecommunication Corporation’s board submitted their minutes to the court. Yet, they argued, the court made a decision without considering those documents.

The CEO of Ethiopian Telecommunication corporation at that time, according to the argument, had all the power to implement the decision of the Management Committee and the Board of Directors. Hence the appeal focused on a legal disparity between the decision of the court and the documents submitted.

However, the Cassation Court rejected hearing the appeal and the decision of the lower court was upheld.

The prosecutor filed four multiple charges against the former CEO in February 2008 before the Federal High Court’s first criminal bench, and Tesfaye has been in prison for the last four years and seven months. Read more