Ethiopia’s former deputy intelligence chief has been arrested amid investigations into corruption and human rights abuses committed by the security forces.
Yared Zerihun, the former deputy head of the national security agency, is one of more than 60 intelligence and military figures arrested since Monday.
The move has been widely welcomed by human rights groups.
Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed promised a firm line on corruption and human rights abuses when he came to power in April this year and has passed a string of reforms, including ending a two-decade conflict with neighbouring Eritrea.
Attorney General Berhanu Tsegaye has accused “the senior leadership of the national security agency” of involvement in a grenade attack at a rally attended by the prime minister in June, in which two people were killed.
So far this week, 27 people have been detained over alleged crimes committed at the Metals and Engineering Corporation (Metec), Ethiopia’s military-run conglomerate – including its former head, who was arrested as he tried to flee the country.
Police have also arrested Gudeta Olana, the head of the security division at state-owned Ethio Telecom network.
He is accused of intimidating and obstructing investigators probing alleged corrupt practices at the military-linked business conglomerate Metal Engineering Corporation (MeTEC). On Tuesday, Ethiopian security forces arrested the ex-chief of MeTEC, Kinfe Dagnew on corruption charges. Dagnew had resigned from MeTEC in April amid allegations of widespread corrupt practices.
The arrest of Dagnew and Olana comes soon after the Ethiopia Attorney General Berhanu Tsegaye said the east African country is launching a massive probe into corrupt practices at MeTEC.
