Chad appeal court clears 17 in textbook scandal

Category: Africa

Date Added: 12 March 2010

NDJAMENA - An appeal court in Ndjamena cleared 17 suspects in a Chadian embezzlement scandal related to the purchase of school textbooks at inflated prices, a defence lawyer said.

Among those cleared was Haroun Kabadi, a former secretary general in the Chadian president's office. Several senior public figures still remain behind bars in the case.

"Our clients are now totally free and will no longer be pursued in this affair," lawyer Magloire Badje told AFP, describing the appeal court's ruling as "the triumph of justice."

The case had been taken to the appeal court by the state prosecutor after a judge on February 16 said they should be freed for "lack of evidence" against them.

Those still in prison include Abderamane Koko, former minister of national education, Limane Mahamat, former secretary general of the government, and Oumar Boukar Gana, former secretary of state for finance responsible for the budget, as well as staff of the ministries of finance and education.

Arrested in November while he was still a senior aide to President Idriss Deby and the number two in the ruling Patriotic Movement of Salvation, Kabadi was accused of accepting a bribe from a lawmaker while he was issuing a public tender for the schoolbooks.

Source: AFP