Yirgalem Fisseha Mebrahtu, a well-known poet and writer, who hosted and produced programs at education ministry-funded Radio Bana from 2003, was arbitrarily detained in 2009 for six years without trial. She now lives in exile.
On February 19, 2009, Eritrean security forces raided Radio Bana and arrested its entire staff, according to a U.S. diplomatic cable, disclosed by WikiLeaks in November 2010. The station was subsequently shut down.
The February 23, 2009, cable, sent by the then-U.S. Ambassador Ronald McMullen attributed the information to the deputy head of mission of the British Embassy in the capital, Asmara, in connection with the detention of a British national who volunteered at the station.
In addition to Yirgalem, the other journalists detained were: Ismail Abdelkader, Ghirmai Abraham, Issak Abraham, Mohammed Dafla, Araya Defoch, Simon Elias, Biniam Ghirmay, Mulubruhan Habtegebriel, Bereket Misguina, Mohammed Said Mohammed, Meles Nguse, Petros Teferi (Wedi Queshi), Mulubruhan Weldegebriel, and Basilos Zemo.
According to the cable, the volunteer reported being taken by security forces with the Radio Bana staff to an unknown location 6 miles (10 kilometers) north of Asmara and later being separated from them. The volunteer was not interrogated and was released the next day, along with some of the station's staff.
The reasons for the detentions were unclear, but CPJ sources said the journalists were either accused of providing technical assistance to two opposition radio stations broadcasting into the country from Ethiopia or of participating in a meeting in which one of the journalists spoke against the government. The staff's collaboration with two British nationals in producing educational programs may have also led to the arrests, those sources said.
Yirgalem had submitted a collection of poems to the censorship office in 2008 but she was denied publication, she said in a later interview.
After her release, Yirgalem wrote that soldiers encircled the radio station and rounded everyone up, totaling about 40 people, including freelancers and non-employees. They were ordered to board a truck and taken to Adi-Abieto prison, where she was questioned as to the whereabouts of her laptop and USB disks, about her journalism and finances, and if she listened to opposition Radio Wegahta or knew where it broadcast from.
On May 23, 2009, she was taken to Mai-Serwa prison, near Asmara, she later wrote. There, she asked for her email accounts and passwords.
In February 2010, she was placed in solitary confinement. In October, she was beaten while being questioned about her poetry and accused of trying to incite youth against the government until she lost consciousness.
“It was inhuman – there was abuse, beatings, and intimidation,” she said in a later interview. “Through imprisonment, intolerable abuse, and cruelty, there were extensive Eritreans who lost their lives or their sanity.”
Yirgalem was taken to Asmara’s Halibet Hospital where the doctor “was shocked by the severity of the bruises and swollen wounded I sustained from the torture,” she later wrote. She spent five months recovering in the hospital, before she was returned to her cell. In 2012, she was readmitted to hospital.
In April 2013, at least eight Radio Bana staff were released, sources told CPJ: Araya, Biniam, Ismail, Issak, Mohammed Dafla, Mohammed Said Mohammed, Mulubruhan, and Simon. The sources added that Yirgalem and Meles’ mental health had seriously deteriorated.
On January 21, 2015, Yirgalem was among the six remaining Radio Bana staff to be freed — Basilos, Bereket, Ghirmai, Meles, and Petros — journalists in exile told CPJ.
Authorities did not respond to numerous inquiries from CPJ and other international groups seeking information about the detainees' whereabouts, health, and legal status.
In 2017, Yirgalem attempted to escape Eritrea but she was arrested at the border and imprisoned for another four months.
In March 2018, she successfully escaped to Uganda and wrote about her prison experiences for PEN Eritrea.
In December 2018, she moved to Germany after receiving a one-year scholarship with the Writers-in-Exile Program of PEN Germany. Her poetry has since been widely published and she has won awards for her activism and writing.