The head of a human trafficking ring, Tewelde Goitom, was sentenced to 18 years in prison on Monday by a court in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. This Eritrean nickname “Walid” had been at the head of a gang of smugglers and a detention center in Libya between 2014 and 2018, where crimes were committed daily against African migrants.
“Walid” was one of the most feared, one of the most violent, one of the most hated traffickers between Eritrea and Libya. Small, thick, talkative, Tewelde Goitom his real name was a kingpin with a gloomy reputation among migrants from the Horn of Africa. At his Bani Walid torture center, he liked to “parade with weapons of war” and “brag about raping all the women who passed through his hands,” said Eritrean journalist Meron Estefanos.
On Monday, June 14, a court in Addis Ababa, after a trial for several months, sentenced him to 18 years in prison and a fine of 200,000 birr, or almost 4,000 euros. His deputy, Sisay, who was arrested at a café last year, was sentenced, as was he, to 16 years and six months in prison and 50,000 bears, or a fine of 1,000 euros.
They are under high security
The verdict was handed down in high security. It should be remembered that another notorious Eritrean human trafficking, Kidane Zekarias, fled in February in good daylight from the court in Addis Ababa, thanks to accomplices in the judiciary. And that “Walid”, like Tewelde Goitom, is a very rich man who buys fake papers, aids and fake testimonials.
In addition, journalist Meron Estefanos is surprised by the ridiculous amount of fines that have been imposed on them. She believes that given their wealth, it is even an “insult to the victims” and that there is “a real risk that he will flee”.
.
