A guilty verdict by Federal High Court has been handed down to Former Director-General of National Intelligence and Security Service Getachew Assefa, Deputy Director Yared Zerihun, and 24 other defendants.
Defendants worked at various positions in the former National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS) between 1984 and 2010.
They were positioned at major cities in Amhara region (Bahirdar and Gondor), Oromia Region (Nekemte, Jimma, Shashemene, and Bishoftu), and SNNPR (Hawassa) and used their positions to detain people and set up secret detention centers in those cities.
The Federal High Court found the four defendants guilty in absentia, including former National Intelligence and Security Director-General Getachew Assefa, Atsbeha Gede, Assefa Belay, and Shishai Leul.
Former Deputy Director of National Intelligence and Security, Yared Zerihun, and other defendants, along with their lawyers, attended the trial and were ordered to defend themselves.
According to information obtained by the Ministry of Justice, the defendants asked the court to release them on bail. Still, the prosecutor was given an alternative date of December 15, 2021, to comment on the bail application.
