The Ethiopian government said on Monday that 41 Al-Shabab fighters, including a military officer, had been sentenced to prison terms. The leader was condemned to life in prison.
The fourth bench of Ethiopia’s Federal High Court in Dire Dawa sentenced them after they failed to present a defence witness.
According to government sources, the first defendant is Hussien Almed (also known as Hussein Gap). According to the Ethiopian government, he served as a military leader for the rebel organisation. Ibrahim Jibril, a junior military commander, was the second defendant.
They were allegedly charged with terrorism after Ethiopia‘s Ministry of Justice’s Transborder Crime Affairs Division Directorate General heard 57 witnesses and 396 documented evidence in October 2022.
All 41 accused were purportedly members of the Somalia-based Al-Shabaab terrorist group since 2019, with plans to launch an attack in Ethiopia’s Somali region in 2021 after completing their training. They were functioning in numerous regions throughout the Afder zone. Some of the individuals were charged with supplying weaponry to an organisation entrusted with carrying out terrorist activities in Ethiopia.
They reportedly killed 265 individuals and injured 323 others, including special troops from the Somali region. In terms of property, the Ethiopian government reported that the damage was assessed to be 13,550,000 Ethiopian birr. Furthermore, they examined two goat and sheep vehicles, as well as 119 camels, from the Somali region of Ethiopia where they had been operating.
Aside from terrorism accusations, they were suspected of being members of a proscribed terrorist organisation, Al-Shabab.
The government stated that the suspects were given five opportunities to bring a defence witness, which they declined.
Hussien Almed is condemned to life in prison, while the other 19 defendants are sentenced to 11 and 12 years without parole. Eight defendants have been sentenced to eight and nine years without parole. In addition, ten defendants face seven and eight years in prison without the possibility of parole.
In recent years, there have been several allegations of foiled al-Shabaab terrorist activity in Ethiopia.