On Monday, the Ethiopian government disclosed that 41 individuals affiliated with Al-Shabab, including a military leader, were handed jail sentences while the leader received a life sentence.
The verdict was delivered by the 4th bench of Ethiopia’s Federal High Court in Dire Dawa after the defendants failed to produce a defence witness.
Government sources named Hussein Almed (alias Hussein Gap) as the primary defendant, identified as a military leader within the militant organization. Ibrahim Jibril, described as a junior military leader, was the second defendant in the case.
The defendants faced terrorism charges following an extensive investigation by Ethiopia’s Ministry of Justice’s Transborder Crime Affairs Division Directorate General, which included testimony from 57 witnesses and 396 items of documented evidence in October 2022.
All 41 individuals were reportedly members of the Somalia-based Al-Shabaab terrorist group since 2019 and were implicated in an attack in Ethiopia’s Somali region in 2021 after completing their training.
Operating in various districts in the Afder zone, some defendants were accused of supplying arms to facilitate terrorist activities within Ethiopia.
The group allegedly caused the deaths of 265 citizens, injured 323 others, including Somali region’s special forces, and inflicted property damage estimated at 13,550,000 Ethiopian birr.
They were also accused of theft, including livestock. In addition to terrorism charges, they were accused of membership in Al-Shabaab.
Despite being given five opportunities to present a defense witness, they declined. Hussein Almed received a life sentence, while 19 other defendants were sentenced to 11 and 12 years in prison without parole, 8 defendants to 8 and 9 years without parole, and 10 defendants to 7 and 8 years in prison without parole.
These convictions come amid reports of thwarted Al-Shabaab terrorist activities in Ethiopia in recent years.