High Court Loses its Veteran Judge, Leul Gebremariam

The Parliament has removed Leul Gebremariam, a veteran judge at the Federal High Court, from his position after a controversial and non-unanimous vote on May 25, 2017.

Leul was dismissed from his post because of critical illness after serving the justice system for two decades, according to the decision proposal of the Federal Judicial Administration Council (FJAC). He did not appear to the court for the past eight consecutive months, according to the council. The proposal also requested the Parliament to approve the retirement of Leul and pay him an eight-month salary through his representatives.

Leul has entertained major criminal cases in the High Court including the popular case of Tewodros Kassahun, a.k.a. Teddy Afro, who was sentenced for a hit and run car accident in December 2008.

Members of the Parliament (MPs) strongly questioned the truthfulness of the reasons forwarded by the proposal for the removal of the judge. The parliamentarians argued that the council did not present evidence to support the judge’s illness. Tesfaye Daba, a member of the council and chairman of the Foreign Affairs Standing Committee, who also presented the proposal of the removal to Parliament, responded to the MPs that the evidence was not presented because of miscommunication.

The council, according to Tesfaye, has passed a decision to present its request for the dismissal of Leul after reviewing evidence but it mistakenly sent the proposal to Parliament without attaching the evidence.

Nevertheless, the allegation of the council had not been short of questions as it brought inconvenience among some MPs.

“Are we deciding on an alive, dead, or available judge’s fate or not?” exclaimed a representative questioning the council’s allegations on his sickness, detailed information and his current status.

One of the MPs explained that she met him in Bangkok where he frequently travels for medication. She also testified that Leul is staying in Germany with his friend and he is following a series of medication.

The MPs also strongly opposed the proposal for his retirement, recalling that the responsibility of the house is only voting over his removal. Finally, deputy speaker of the house, Shitaye Minale, who was also the session’s chairperson, closed the debate by suggesting to focus on the main motion, meaning only Leul’s removal. Eventually, the MPs voted to dismiss him with a majority vote, and two abstentions.

“His absence saddens us, and we wish him to get better soon,” Belachew Anshiso, president of the Federal High Court, told Fortune.

People who worked with him express him as a person who was relentlessly devoted to his job. The decision of the Parliament was delayed for a week because of its hectic list of agendas in the previous week.

Last year, Parliament appointed 34 judges to the Federal High Court. However, 11 of them left due to a promotion to the Supreme Court, and removal by the legislature itself.

During the past nine months of the current fiscal year, the Federal High Court has been entertaining 7,756 criminal cases and has ruled over 7,848 same cases, according to the performance report of the Federal Courts.


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