Mr. Hassen Kekia, a prominent elderly Eritrean businessman, has been arrested, again.

He has not been charged with a specific allegation and thus, at least officially, the reason for his arrest is unknown.  However, sources contacted by Gedab News report that Mr. Hassen Kekia, an opinionated individual, had been warned to refrain from speaking negatively about the PFDJ, the ruling party, or President Isaias Afwerki, its chair, specifically.  

The consolidation of power in Eritrea and the state monopoly of the media has created a cult of personality around the President approaching those of police states like North Korea.  Thus, although there is no law against speaking out against President Isaias Afwerki, it is generally understood that it is unwise to do so.  The cult is such that even Eritreans who are not supportive of Isaias Afwerki refrain from mentioning his name, preferring the non-specific “he” or “the man.”

Background

A long-time supporter and sometime-financier of the Eritrean People’s Liberation Front (EPLF), the precursor to PFDJ, Hassen Kekia was arrested in September 2001 when he, along with several other elderly Eritreans, attempted to mediate the intra-party dispute between Isaias Afwerki and the group now known as the G-15. 

Within days, virtually every reporter, religious leader, parliamentarian, university student, party cadre or anybody who had called for a negotiated settlement between the President and the G-15 was arrested in the PFDJ’s purge.

In December 2005, after four years of incarceration, Mr. Hassen Kekia was released from prison.  Severely weakened and suffering from acute diabetes, he had to use crutches to walk.   He was never told why he was arrested, nor was he sentenced to a specific jail term.  His release was as arbitrary as his arrest, which is as arbitrary as his second arrest.

Mr. Hassen Kekia is in his late 70s. 

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