BREAKING: Former minister gets six-year jail term

A former minister of communications has bagged six year jail term.

Onyxnews Nigeria reports that an Ethiopian court has found their former Communications Minister, Simon Bereket, guilty of corruption and mismanagement of public funds.

This reliable online news platform understands that Bereket Simon, who was minister of communication from 1995 to 2012, was sentenced to six years in prison over corruption charges, local media reported.

The court declared that Bereket was guilty on two counts of corruption and mismanagement of the Amhara region Public Investment Fund, TIRET corporation, saying that the former minister had taken undue advantage of his tenure in office.

He has also fined 10,000 Ethiopian Birr ($310).

Bereket, alongside his codefendant Tadesse Kassa, was standing trial over the past couple of years while in prison in the northwestern city of Bahir Dar, capital of the Amhara State.

The court sentenced Tadesse to eight years in prison and a fine of $500 after he was found guilty on three counts of embezzlement of public funds.

Bereket was a founding member of former ruling coalition Ethiopian Peoples’ Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF).