Former US contractor admits passing secret data to Ethiopia — BBC News

In the United States, 54-year-old former government contractor Abraham Teklu Lemma pleaded guilty to conspiracy to transmit national defense information to a foreign government. According to BBC News, he passed top-secret intelligence data to Ethiopian officials, including information that, according to prosecutors, he hoped to use to identify and kill fighters from the Tigray region during the 2020–2022 civil war.

Data from secure facilities

The US Department of Justice said that for more than two years, Lemma provided dozens of classified documents and photographs to senior Ethiopian officials. He worked as a contractor at the State Department, the Department of Justice, and the US National Reconnaissance Office, which is responsible for US intelligence satellites.

According to the prosecution, from 2021 until his arrest in August 2023, Lemma was in contact with representatives of Ethiopia's political, military, and intelligence leadership. Prosecutors claim that he secretly removed classified materials from secure government facilities, sometimes copying sensitive information by hand. As an IT systems administrator, he also extracted electronic intelligence files.

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Satellite images and military operations

According to prosecutors, the transferred data included satellite images and information about military activity. Lemma sent it to Ethiopian officials through encrypted messages. The FBI said that Ethiopian officials later used the intelligence received in military operations.

Court documents state that in December 2021, Lemma wrote to an Ethiopian official about the need to permanently destroy these people, otherwise, in his view, there would be no peace in Ethiopia. Later that day, he asked for drones to be sent. Under the plea agreement, Lemma faces up to 22 years in prison. Sentencing is scheduled for April 14, 2027.

The two-year war in Ethiopia resulted in the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people and the displacement of millions. A peace agreement signed in November 2022 ended the conflict, which was accompanied by accusations of mass killings, sexual violence, and attacks on civilians. However, fighting resumed in September, with both sides accusing each other of failing to comply with the terms of the agreement.