ስዊስ ባንክ በታምራት ላይኔ ስም የተቀመጠ ስምንት ሚሊዮን ዶላር መለሰ

አቶ ታምራት ላይኔ የፀረ ሙስና ኮሚሽን ከመቋቋሙ በፊት ሥልጣንን አለአግባብ በመጠቀም ሦስት ክሶች ተመሥርቶባቸው ነበር፡፡ ከእነዚህ ክሶች በተጨማሪም መንግሥትን ወክለው ከሼክ መሐመድ ሁሴን ዓሊ አል አሙዲ 16 ሚሊዮን ዶላር ለቡና ግዥ ተበድረዋል መባሉ ይታወሳል፡፡ ይህ ገንዘብ ስዊስ ባንክ ውስጥ ይገኛል የሚል መረጃ የደረሰው መንግሥት በፍትሕ ሚኒስቴር በኩል ገንዘቡን ለማስመለስ ጥረት አድርጓል፡፡

ከ16 ሚሊዮን ዶላር ውስጥ ስምንት ሚሊዮን ዶላር በስዊስ ባንክ እንደሚገኝ በመረጋገጡ፣ መንግሥት ገንዘቡ እንዲመለስለት ለስዊስ ፍርድ ቤት ጥያቄውን አቅርቧል፡፡ ጉዳዩን ሲከታተል የቆየው የስዊስ ፍርድ ቤት ገንዘቡ የኢትዮጵያ መንግሥት አይደለም በሚል ለሌላ ግለሰብ እንዲመለስ ወስኗል፡፡

አቶ ዓሊ የተጠቀሰው ገንዘብ ለኢትዮጵያ እንዳልተመለሰ ገልጸው፣ ገንዘቡ የተመለሰለትን ግለሰብ ስም ግን ከመግለጽ ተቆጥበዋል፡፡ የሪፖርተር ምንጮች እንደሚገልጹት ከሆነ ግን ገንዘቡ የተመለሰው ለሼክ አል አሙዲ ነው፡፡

ለ12 ዓመት ከሁለት ወራት ታስረው ታህሳስ 2000 ዓ.ም. ከእስር የተፈቱት አቶ ታምራት ላይኔ ከእስር በተፈቱበት ወቅት ስለዚህ ገንዘብ ምንም ማለት እንደማይፈልጉ፣ ከዚህ በኋላ በፕሮቴስታንት እምነት ጥላ ሥር ሰላምና ፍቅርን እየሰበኩ ቀሪውን ዕድሜያቸውን እንደሚገፉ መግለጻቸው አይዘነጋም፡፡

http://www.ethiopianreporter.com

Swiss reject Ethiopia funds claim

Switzerland has rejected Ethiopia’s request to hand over $8m its former prime minister was found guilty of embezzling.

Tamirat Layne, prime minister from 1991 to 1995, is currently serving an 18-year-prison sentence on charges of corruption and embezzlement of a $16m loan made to the Ethiopian Government by a businessman.

The Swiss Justice Ministry said that the amounts deposited in the bank accounts in Geneva “relate exclusively to a part of the embezzled loan (and) there is no link between the sequestered assets and the other crimes … committed by (Tamirat) and his co-offenders.”

Ethiopia has been trying for six years to recover funds moved abroad by Mr Tamirat.

Ethiopian officials asked Switzerland for judicial assistance in 1997 to recover the $16m loan made to the country.

Tamirat sentenced

Swiss justice authorities responded by freezing $8m and in 1998 agreed to hand over the money having established it was of criminal origin.

But Switzerland’s highest court, the Federal Tribunal, then blocked the handover on human rights grounds, saying the money could only be transferred to Ethiopia if Mr Tamirat was sentenced.

However, in 2000 an Ethiopian court sentenced the former prime minister to prison after finding him guilty of embezzling the loan.

The prosecution said the money initially was deposited in a London bank and later divided by Mr Tamirat and three other individuals, with US$8 million ending up in Switzerland.

The three other defendants were convicted of being accessories to corruption.

Ethiopia formally asked for the return of the assets last year.

Source Reporter