Kinfe et al. File Preliminary Objections

Kinfe Dagnew (Maj. Gen), former head of Metals & Engineering Corporation (MetEC) who has been charged with grand corruption, brought preliminary objections in defence of the charges leveled against him.

Kinfe, the founding CEO of the Corporation, has defended the three out of the four charges brought against him. Through his two lawyers Haftom Kesete and Zeresenay Mesegana, he filed his preliminary objections last Monday and Friday in the 15th Criminal Bench of the Federal High Court's Ledeta Division.

For the first charge, which involved alleged illegal procurement of two hotels and a plastics factory at a cost of 200 million Br, Kinfe's preliminary objection asserts that the charges of negligence and abuse of power in ordering the procurement are not interchangeable crimes and are entirely different from one another.

"The procurement can either be the result of abuse of power or negligence," reads Kinfe's preliminary objection. "The prosecutors' allegations joining the two crimes are not legitimate."

Under this filing, Alem Fitsum, managing director of Alem Genet Steel Factory, and Ermias Amelga, founder of Access Real Estate, were charged for selling Riveria Hotel, a PVC factory and Imperial Hotel to the Corporation at exaggerated values. Alem and Ermias also submitted their preliminary objections to the court.

Through his lawyers, Alem stated that prosecutors could not accuse him criminally along with MetEC. Instead, he could face civil liability and be subjected to pay compensation if found guilty.

Ermias's lawyers also argued that selling one’s own property does not constitute a crime. His lawyers also asserted that Ermias sold the hotel to the Corporation at a market price and the charge is not acceptable in the context of a free market economy. They further asserted that the price of the hotel has now appreciated to 300 million Br.

Under the second charge, Kinfe is accused along with 13 other co-defendants for allegedly causing 544.7 million Br in losses to public funds resulting from the procurement and mismanagement of two shipping vessels. Last Monday, Kinfe submitted his preliminary objection based on two grounds and stating that the charge lacks clarity.