Elias Teklu, a journalist and writer who became the first victim of the Ethiopian government in the 1950s.
compiled and researched by Resoum Kidane 17/09/2022
In the 1940s and early 1950s Eritrea’s newspapers Hanti Ertra (United Eritrea) and Dehai Eritrea (Voice of Eritrea) played an important role in the development of national consciousness.
Hanti Ertra lived only for two years and was replaced by Dehai Ertra, whose maiden issue came out on September 21, 1952. In 1952 . Hanti Eritrea ceased its publication and was succeeded by the Voice of Eritrea (Dehai Eritra) Elias Amare Gebrezgheir gave a good explanation the reason for Hanti Eitra was replaced by Voice of Eritrea (2002) according to Elias
With the Federal arrangement coming into effect, Memhir(Teacher) Wolde’ab and his colleagues in the Independence Block considered the part of their mission of that period was accomplished, and that what remained now was to see to it that the democratic rights enshrined in the Constitution were to be defended. That mission was to be carried on by the younger generation who established Dehai Ertra. This was when Ato Wolde’ab was heavily involved in the founding and running of Eritrea’s first labor union, which became the backbone of the anti-Unionist nationalist struggle [Elias Amare Gebrezgheir (2002)
The weekly Voice of Eritrea (Dehai Eritrea) became the principal channel through which actions of the Ethiopian government and their impact on Eritrea's autonomy and constitution were discussed. The paper first appeared one week after the inauguration of the Federation. In its inaugural issue of September 21, 1952 the Voice of Eritrea advised its reader that it was no longer the voice of the M.L., rather the voice of all Eritreans, a non-sectarian and non-denominational weekly open to all views.[Tekie p41 ]
Tekie adds that since Woldeab's Hanti Ertra had ceased publication, the Voice absorbed some of the editorial that worked with Hanti Ertra. The Voice's editor was Hussien Seid Hayoti(for a while Mohammed Said Mohammed was also the editor) and it was a weekly newspaper written in Tigrinya and Arabic, with a smattering of Italian articles. Two of its brilliant writers of the early period were Elias Teklu and Siraj Abdu. [Elias Amare Gebrezgheir]
Elias Teklu's article was entitled "Eritrea for Eritreans". Elias complained about the presence of Ethiopian troops in Eritrea rhetorically asking whether Eritreans are a free people as long as Ethiopian troops were stationed on Eritrean soil. He said he had nothing against Ethiopia or Ethiopians. "We want to live in peace and harmony with Ethiopia. All we are saying is that the rights Ethiopia has deprived us of should immediately be restored. If the government of Ethiopia wanted to serve the best interest of Ethiopians and Eritreans, it must respect the rights of Eritreans, and refrain from plundering Eritrean resources [Voice of Eritrean, November 22 1952 translated from Tigrinya cited byTekie p44.
According Tekie Fessehatzion, one of the several articles that alarmed the Eritrean and Ethiopian governments was an article by Elias Teklu.was titled “wshTawi naSnet iertras nabey abilu Kon iyu zguAz zelo” (Whither the internal autonomy of Eritrea?); another expose under the title of “qunqune ab hnSa mengsti iertra” (termites inside the structure of Government of Eritrea) warned against corruption of power of the Baito representatives [Read more]
The two-part article was entitled “Stagnation or Progress”. In this two part article Elias drew a comparison between Eritrea’s ‘constitutional government and Ethiopian’s monarchy’. The editors were warned several times, said the Secretary, but continued to publish tendentious materials “until the paper was closed
Even after the paper had won the first court battle the constitutionalty of closing the paper in the first place was kept alive in the Assembly. Ibrahim Sultan reminded Tedla Bairu that suppressing the paper was unconstitutional, in breach of Articles 22 and 30.[pp47-48].
”Soon after, Dehai was illegally closed for a year. Dehai reopened on May 28,1954 by the order of Eritrea’s High Court, and it defiantly informed its readers that it will continue to fight for Eritrea’s rights against Ethiopia’s illegal encroachments on the internal affairs of Eritrea. (Elias Amare Gebrezgheir
The Chief Executive dared the editor of the Voice of Eritrea to go to the Supreme Court for a final ruling, as stipulated in the constitution. The Eritrean Supreme Court sided with the paper, and instructed the government to allow the paper to publish.
After the government had lost in the two Eritrean courts, the Ethiopian government took over the case. Although the Eritrean constitution had made it clear that the Eritrean Supreme Court was the court of the last resort in Eritrea, the Ethiopians appealed to the Federal High Court. As expected the Ethiopian Court found the editor guilty, and ordered that the paper cease publication [Tekei p48]
On July 28, 1954, six members of the Voice of Eritrea were charged by the Federal Court for "subversive political activity endangering the integrity of the Federation and promoting its disintegration”. They were accused of working for the separation of Eritrea from Ethiopia. [Tekie p41]
The publisher of "Dehai Eritrea" Mahmoud Saleh was imprisoned and a contributor to the newspaper, Elias Teklu was also imprisoned by the government of Ethiopia which later condemned him to life imprisonment. Elias Amare Gebrezgheir on December 17, 2001 wrote: ‘Dehai Eritra entered the stage with gusto and started to write provocatively critical articles pertaining to the government’s activities in Eritrea. Its editor was Hussien Seid Hayoti (for a while Mohammed Said Mohammed was also the editor) and it was a weekly newspaper written in Tigrinya and Arabic, with a smattering of Italian articles. Two of its brilliant writers of the early period were Elias Teklu and Siraj Abdu. Elias Teklu was later imprisoned for his vigorous defense of the democratic constitutional rights of Eritreans and was taken to Ethiopia were he languished in prison for some years and finally joined the rank of the earlier martyrs.
One article of the early period was titled “wshTawi naSnet iertras nabey abilu Kon iyu zguAz zelo” (Whither the internal autonomy of Eritrea?); another expose under the title of “qunqune ab hnSa mengsti iertra” (termites inside the structure of Government of Eritrea) warned against corruption of power of the Baito representatives [Read more].
Furthermore according Tekie Fessehatzion, one of the several articles that alarmed the Eritrean and Ethiopian governments was an article by Elias Teklu. The two-part article was entitled “Stagnation or Progress” In the two-part article Elias drew a comparison between Eritrea’constitutional government and Ethiopian’s monarchy. The editor was warned several times, said the Secretary, but continued to publish ‘tendentious’ materials “until the paper was closed” Even after the paper had won the first court battle the constitutionalty of closing the paper in the first place was kept alive in the Assembly. Ibrahim Sultan reminded Tedla Bairu that suppressing the paper was unconstitutional, in breach of Articles 22 and 30.[pp47-48].
The publisher of "Dehai Eritrea" Mahmoud Saleh was imprisoned and a contributor to the newspaper, Elias Teklu was also imprisoned by the government of Ethiopia which later condemned him to life imprisonment. Elias Amare Gebrezgheir on December 17, 2001 wrote: ‘Dehai Eritra entered the stage with gusto and started to write provocatively critical articles pertaining to the government’s activities in Eritrea. Its editor was Hussien Seid Hayoti (for a while Mohammed Said Mohammed was also the editor) and it was a weekly newspaper written in Tigrinya and Arabic, with a smattering of Italian articles. Two of its brilliant writers of the early period were Elias Teklu and Siraj Abdu. Elias Teklu was later imprisoned for his vigorous defense of the democratic constitutional rights of Eritreans and was taken to Ethiopia were he languished in prison for some years and finally joined the rank of the earlier martyrs.
Suleiman (2013) states that the Voice of Eritrea Tigrinya and Arabic editors, Elias Teclu and Mohamed Saleh Mahmud were sentenced to five and ten years prison terms respectively and the Voice of Eritrea newspaper was closed down, for publishing articles criticizing the violation of democratic rights and infringement of Eritrean autonomy. The press freedom which British Eritrea had enjoyed came to an end.
Elias Teklu who was later imprisoned for his vigorous defines of the democratic constitutional rights of Eritreans and was taken to Ethiopia were he languished in prison for five years and finally joined the rank of the early martyrs.
Elias Teklu, the correspondent of the newspaper ‘Dehai Eritrea’, was imprisoned by the government of Ethiopia in 1954 and then taken to
Alem Bekage prison former central prison in Addis Ababa where he died.
Elias Teklu,
Source Tekie Fessehatzion A brief encounter with Democracy: From acquiescence to Resistance during Eritrea’s early Federation Years Eritrean StudiesReview vol.2 no.2 1998
Dehai finally ceased its publication with its last issue # 50 published on August 6, 1954. This was when the first journalists became victims of the Ethiopian security forces, in violation of the Eritrean Constitution Article 32, which stated: “Everyone resident in Eritrea shall have the right to express his opinion through any medium whatever (press, speech, etc.) and to learn the opinions of others... The 1952 Eritrean Constitution incorporated many of the ideas of the Declaration of Universal Human Rights recognised by the UN. one of that article was Article 32.”
Source Tekie Fessehatzion A brief encounter with Democracy: From acquiescence to Resistance during Eritrea’s early Federation Years Eritrean StudiesReview vol.2 no.2
