Former officials arrested, independent press shut down

The Eritrean government arrested six former members of the ruling party and closed eight privately run newspapers on Tuesday. An Eritrean official told IRIN that the six had been arrested "for putting the country in danger and causing confusion". He confirmed that the privately run newspapers had been "suspended temporarily", but would be allowed to reopen "once they learn to abide by Eritrean press laws". A journalist with the independent 'Setit' newspaper, who asked not to be named, confirmed to IRIN that the government had ordered the newspaper to shut down. He said he did not want to speculate why the paper had been shut down or when it might be allowed to reopen, but an Eritrean official told IRIN that the newspapers "will eventually be allowed to reopen when they learn to report the truth based on national interests". Reuters reported on Tuesday that state-run radio had accused the private press of "time and again putting at risk the unity and best interest of the country in the issuing of their newspapers". The six persons arrested were either former government ministers or former senior Eritrean army officers, and were among 15 senior officials and officers sacked in May after openly criticising Eritrean President Isayas Aferwerki. They were picked up from their homes early on Tuesday morning, but it is not yet clear what they have been charged with. The 15 dissenters, or the G-15 group as they have become known, had earlier written and distributed an internal letter to members of Eritrea's ruling People's Front for Democracy and Justice (PFDJ) in which they accused Isayas of consistently refusing to allow collective leadership and failing to convene legislative bodies intended to regulate presidential powers. "It is obvious that our country is in a crisis," read the letter. "This crisis is the result of the weakness of the PFDJ and the government, and the invasion of our country by the enemy." A regional analyst told IRIN at the time that Eritrea was suffering "post-war political upheavals" arising from internal disagreements over Eritrea's prosecution of the recent two-year war against Ethiopia. The war ended with the effective capitulation by Eritrean forces after they were forced back deep inside Eritrea by advancing Ethiopian forces. The G-15 letter was then leaked to a web site and widely circulated. The leaders of the reform movement then gave interviews to the private press explaining why they were calling for change. Eritrean state radio said yesterday that the arrests signalled that "the government of Eritrea had started to put an end to the serious crimes which have been committed against the sovereignty and security of the country. Since the crimes have been worsening day by day and were going too far, the government has arrested those responsible with the crime." The arrested men were former Foreign Minister Petros Solomon, former Local Government Minister Muhammad Sherifo and the former Trade and Industry Minister Haile Woldensae. Also arrested was Ogbe Abraha, the army chief-of-staff during the Eritrean war of independence. All the six arrested were among the founding members of the Eritrean liberation movement, which, after winning a 30-year war of independence, has ruled Eritrea since independence in 1993.