Charges dropped against election board chief

The head of Ethiopia’s National Election Board has been released and charges against him dropped, the Federal Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission told IRIN on Monday. Assefa Birru was released after three days in police custody and was back behind his desk at the election board headquarters. He had been arrested by the anti-corruption task force, charged with abuse of power and obstructing the work of the two-year-old commission. But Hailu Berhe, who heads the investigation department within the commission, told IRIN that the charges had now been withdrawn after Assefa admitted to them. He said that the charges had centred on an election board auditor who was sacked from his job after complaining about financial irregularities. Assefa had refused to re-employ him despite orders from the anti-commission task force. However, he had now agreed to give the auditor his job back, Hailu said. “This is not embarrassing for us,” Hailu told IRIN. “We have to protect whistleblowers and that is what we have done. He has admitted he made a mistake.” Although the anti-corruption task force has made dozens of arrests, several high profile figures have been freed once their cases were brought to court. In February, Abate Kisho, former president of the Southern Nations, Nationalities and People’s Regional State was released almost two years after being charged. He was freed along with Bitew Belay, a member of the central committee of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) which dominates the ruling coalition government.