All but one of the 5 defendants who allegedly committed the crime of unlawful arrest and rape at Bole Airport were acquitted.
The individuals who were accused of causing the arrest of a private victim and the crime of rape by threatening her to return an imported musical instrument were acquitted.
The 4th division of corruption cases of the federal high court gave the guilty verdict. The defendants who were acquitted in today’s appointment are the 1st defendant, Deputy Inspector Mengstu Gebremichael, who is in charge of criminal investigation at the Addis Ababa Police Airport Police Station, and the 2nd- Bole International. Airport Police Station Detective Chief Sergeant Bose Lemlum Mulye, 3rd- Former Defense Member Major Yohannes Abebe, 4th- Adam Syed Mohammed who is said to be in private business.
The prosecution’s case against the defendants indicated that the private defendant had imported musical instruments based on the representation of the heir of the artist Araghegne on April 6, 2014, in order to execute the case. She requests that the total 3 million 200 thousand Birr she paid to the tax and customs officials for importation be paid to her in advance.
Following this, the 4th defendant, instead of solving the case legally, conspired with the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd defendants to go to her home and threaten her to return the property, threatening her, arresting her at the Bole International Airport police station, and robbing her of security on the day. It will be recalled that after the defendants confessed that they did not commit the criminal act mentioned in the 3 cases presented by the prosecutor, the prosecutor presented a total of eight witnesses and other documents, including the heir of artist Arelhegne Warasen and the private victim.
The court examined the affidavits and documentary evidence and in today’s hearing, it was stated that the defendants from 1 to 4 have committed the entire criminal act mentioned in the indictment. It was mentioned that they did not use their authority to perform inhumane acts, apart from conducting an investigation.
In addition, the trial confirmed that when she said that she had been raped by a private victim, they took her to a medical institution on their own initiative and that they were sorry for the matter. In regard to a private victim, when she was unjustly arrested at Bole International Airport, the security guard on duty of the day forced him to act on his own initiative and was convicted in absentia.