another church leader who were jailed several months earlier, Christians said Thursday, February 15.
Pastor Habtom Tesfamichel was taken into custody on January 23 in Asmara, the capital of the East African nation, reported Christian news agency Compass Direct News.
Security officials interrupted a time of mourning at Tesfamichel’s home, where his family was grieving over the death of a fellow Lutheran pastor in Sweden and summoned the pastor for questioning at a nearby police station, sources reportedly said.
Tesfamichel, 57, had been pastoring the Full Gospel Church’s Asmara congregation since its previous pastor, Kidane Woldu, was arrested and jailed in March 2005. He is now behind bars in Asmara’s Wongel Mermera prison, along with nearly two dozen other Christian pastors and priests, fellow believers said.
LEADER FREED
It came amid reports that another Full Gospel Church Pastor, Fanuel Mihreteab, was freed on bail from Sempel Prison in Asmara, two years after his arrest in January 2005 in the town of Dekemhare.
First incarcerated in the Wongel Mermera investigation center, Mihreteab was one of three pastors brought before military commanders in extrajudicial hearings in September 2005. Married with two children, he was reportedly sentenced to two years in prison.
In addition two Kale Hiwot Church leaders, identified as identified as Pastor Simon Tsegay and Gebremichel Yohannes, were apparently released on bail late January. Borh men had been detained last September in the town of Adi-Tezlezan, 20 miles (32 kilometers) north of Asmara.
The pastor and Yohannes, administrator of the church’s central office were allegedly detained security officials on charges of using a local church building, which had been closed down by government order, four years earlier.
TRUCKS CONFISCATED
Two trucks owned by the Kale Hiwot Church that had been "confiscated" by state security officers at the time of the men’s arrest remain in government hands, Compass Direct News said.
Eritrean officials have not commented on the latest development and not made public any charges against the pastors and priests still held at Wongel Mermera, some of them jailed for nearly three years now. Most are held incommunicado, with police authorities refusing to even confirm their location, several Christian observers have said.
Since May 2002, Eritrea closed down dozens of churches, forbidding its citizens to worship outside of the four government-approved religions including the Orthodox Church of Eritrea (Coptic Orthodox), Catholicism, the Evangelical Lutheran church, and Islam.
Over 2,000 Eritrean citizens, most of them Christians, are said to be detained for their faith Prisons, military camps and police stations in at least 14 cities and towns. Some Eritrean Christians have even been held in shipping containers, human rights groups say.
Although the majority are evangelical Christians, a growing number of Coptic Orthodox members, Jehovah’s Witnesses and members of the Muslim community are also being jailed without charges by Ethiopian President Isaias Afwerki’s authoritative regime.
ONGOING COMPLAINTS
"Ongoing complaints and dissatisfaction" began to surface in January from a number of priests and adherents of the official Eritrean Orthodox Church inside the country. Historically, 40 percent of Eritreans consider themselves Coptic Orthodox by birth.
The open dissent represented what Compass Direct News described as "a growing reaction" to the government’s December 5, 2006 ultimatum for all the church’s tithes and offerings into state bank accounts as of January 1.
Last month, 15 Orthodox priests openly opposing the new financial regulations received warning letters to "hold their tongue" on the issue. The orders were issued by the office of Yeftehe Dimetros, a government-installed lay administrator running the Eritrean Orthodox Church since August 2005, news reports said.
There are fears among Eritrean Christians the government will soon arrest the 15 priests speaking out against the policy. On January 25, a group of dissident monks, priests and deacons of the Eritrean Orthodox Church wrote to the opposition Asmarino Independent News website, saying Patriarch Abune Antonios had been forcibly divested of his patriarchal robes and insignia by government order.
VESTMENTS CONFISCATED
Dimetros allegedly sent two priests and three security agents from his administrative office on January 20 to confiscate the patriarch’s vestments, two chains of St. Mark, shepherd’s scepter of Moses, a container of Myron oil used in confirmation ceremonies and other sacramental items.
Patriarch Antonios has been held under house arrest since August 2005, after he objected to the jailing of three of his priests.
In their letter to Asmarino, the unnamed Orthodox dissidents said they were "saddened" by the apparent compliance with government demands by Bishop Dioscoros, whom they indicated was "being groomed for his illegal and uncanonical consecration and enthronement" to the seat of the ordained patriarch.
"The deposing of the patriarch and the confiscation of the offerings of the church have become burning issues, both in the life of the Coptic church and the affairs of the state," one local source requesting anonymity was quoted as saying by Compass Direct News.
MUSLIMS CONCERNED
Eritrean Muslims have also expressed opposition towards the government’s" arbitrary appointment" of their mufti. In reaction to the open protests in the town of Keren, 55 Muslims were arrested and jailed, Compass Direct News said.
The arrested individuals were detained on charges of either dodging their obligatory military service or helping their children flee the country to avoid military duty, locals said. About 35 more Muslims have disappeared in the city and are reportedly presumed to be under arrest. Nearly 70 Muslims have been incarcerated in Wongel Mermera for opposing the government-appointed mufti.
They include Taha Mohammed Noor, a prominent national figure arrested in November 2005 for protesting government interference in the religious affairs of Eritrea’s Muslim community, constituting nearly half the national population.
The Eritrean government has denied human rights abuses.
