Originally posted by the Voice of America.
Voice of America content is produced by the Voice of America,
a United States federal government-sponsored entity, and is in
the public domain.


Ethiopia Releases Israeli Businessman Imprisoned Since 2015

Salem Solomon

   Ethiopia has released Israeli businessman Menashe Levy from prison,
   according to a former staffer for U.S. Representative Chris Smith, who
   led a congressional delegation last August that pushed the Ethiopian
   government to drop charges against Levy.

   The news was [1]first reported Thursday by The Jerusalem Post, an
   English-language Israeli newspaper.

   Levy was arrested in 2015 for financial crimes. He had been working in
   Ethiopia for about seven years before his arrest, managing the local
   branch of a major Israeli mining company.

   Ethiopian authorities charged Levy with bribery, tax evasion and money
   laundering on financial dealings between 2010 and 2012 that involved
   millions of dollars, the [2]Addis Fortune, an independent news
   organization in Ethiopia, reported shortly after Levy's arrest.

   Now in his mid-fifties, Levy denied the charges against him, but he was
   sentenced without a trial. During his four-year imprisonment, he was
   violently beaten by another inmate and suffered a heart attack.

References

   1. https://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/The-story-of-an-Israeli-citizen-imprisoned-far-from-home-596790
   2. https://addisfortune.net/articles/court-orders-tidhar-excavation-to-pay-39m-br-to-dalol-oil/

.