Police told to finalise corruption investigations

Police investigating high-profile corruption cases have been ordered to finalise their investigations within the next two weeks, the pro-Ethiopian government Walta Information Centre web site said on 22 September. The Federal High Court said it did not find it convincing to extend the investigation by six months, although it acceded that the probe being undertaken by the Federal Audit Commission into a number of high-profile businessmen and politicians needed “ample time”. The court ordered the commission to speed up its investigation and present the findings as soon as possible. The order came after the police had asked for a further extension of time “to come up with detailed and holistic results into the cases”, Walta said. Defence lawyers of the suspects objected to an extension, saying the police relied on “pretexts” to be given more time to hold the suspects. Among those being investigated is the former minister of defence, Siye Abraha.