Metro

Ethiopia arrests US contractor on alleged espionage charges

Published

3 months ago

September 22, 2023

Ethiopian authorities have arrested a United States government contractor, Abraham Teklu Lemma, on charges of espionage and allegedly providing a foreign country with classified information that he downloaded and printed from his work computer system.

The US Justice Department said on Thursday that Lemma, who is originally from Ethiopia, had a top secret security clearance and access to classified information through contracting positions with the departments of State and Justice.

However, the Ethiopian government has accused Lemma of undermining its security by using an encrypted messaging application to transmit maps, photographs and satellite imagery to the US government.

According to court documents, Lemma is accused of spying for the United States with the documents referring to travel back and forth over the past year and a half to a country where he has family ties.

State prosecutors say the accused accessed dozens of intelligence reports, copying information from them and downloading it to CDs and DVDs.

Lemma now faces charges of delivering “national defense information to aid a foreign government and conspiring to do so, as well as the willful retention of national defense information,” according to Ethiopia’s Interior Ministry.

Prosecutors also accuse Lemma of providing classified information and communicated with a foreign official who tasked him with “supplying information on certain subjects of interest to the country.”

“They discussed military issues, such as command centers and the activities of rebels who were fighting against the government,” the charge said.

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Metro

Zambian govt rejects ‘light’ sentence of PF chieftain, Kambwili, appeals for two-year term

Published

9 hours ago

December 8, 2023

Akanimoh Etim

The Zambian Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Gilbert Phiri, has rejected what he described as the light prison sentence of five months given to a stalwart of the Patriotic Front (PF), Chishimba Kambwili.

Kambwili, a former Foreign Affairs Minister, was last week convicted by a Kasama Resident Magistrate, Samson Mumba, after he was found guilty of hate speech against the Tonga people of Southern Province, and committed to the Milima Prison in Kasama District.

While delivering the judgement, Mumba said Kambwili was guilty of the offence of expressing hatred and ridicule for persons because of tribe and place of origin.

The former Minister of Information and Publicity was said to have issued anti-Tonga tribal remarks during the 2021 elections when he featured on a live radio programme.

He was later suspended for a month by the Electoral Commission of Zambia ( ECZ) over the said remarks.

But Phiri has rejected the five months jail term and is insisting that the offence should have carried a maximum of two years sentence.

The DPP, which filed an appeal at the Lusaka High Court, raised two grounds in the notice, arguing that Mumba had “erred in law when he sentenced the convict to a term of five months imprisonment with hard labour for the offence of hate speech which carries maximum sentence of two years.”

Phiri also argued that the trial “erred in law when it misapplied the principals of sentencing in relation to the gravity and nature of the offence committed.”

Metro

Tinubu talks tough, vows punishment for anyone culpable in deadly bombing of civilians

Published

12 hours ago

December 8, 2023

Akanimoh Etim

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu of Nigeria has vowed that any individual found culpable in the bombing of Tudun Biri village in Kaduna State, North-West Nigeria, where over 120 civilians were killed last Sunday, will not go unpunished.

Tinubu, who made the vow on Thursday, also assured that all the injured victims would be well taken care of by the government under the Folako Initiative which would commence later this month, while the affected communities would be rebuilt under the new intiative.

Tinubu, who was represented by Vice President Kashim Shettima, embarked on a visit alongside a high-powered government delegation to wounded victims at Barau Dikko Teaching Hospital, Kaduna. He explained that the government would do everything possible to ensure that such an unfortunate incident dod not occur again.

“President Bola Ahmed Tinubu sent us to commensurate with the people of Kaduna over the tragic incident,” Shettima said.

“The calibre of people that are here with me is a testimony on how deeply touched the president was by the incident.

“The President was deeply touched by what happened. We will like to assure the people and government of Kaduna State that the government will take measures to protect and preserve the interest of our nation.

“The victims will be well taken care of under the Fulako Initiative which will commence by this month and this community will be the first to be rebuilt in north west zone.

“All measures will be taken to ensure that future occurrence is averted. Government will get to the root of the issue and anyone found culpable will be punished accordingly,” Shettima added.