The note that Mufti Ibrahim Al Mukhtar
wrote in the 1950s on plight of the family of the Ras Asberom Tessema
Ras Asberom Tessema was a prominent national figure who
played an important role in the self-determination period in Eritrea. He
was the leader of the "Liberal Progressive Party” that was founded in 1947, and his party
was an ally of the
Muslim League, and was also part
of the Independence Bloc, calling for the independence of Eritrea. The Mufti describes him as one
the famous men in the country, who earned great respect among the people,
especially among the Christians and one of the leaders who called for
independence. As the other Independence national
leaders, he, his family and his close associates was subjected to hardship; the
worst of which was the arrest of his sons and other members of his family. Some
of them lost their jobs without any legal grounds. All this was because they
supported the independence of Eritrea. The following sheds light on the plight
of the family.
- On Saturday, October 24th, 1953 at ten o'clock pm, police
arrested two people on charges of attempting to assassinate the Chief Executive, Tedla Bairu, while he was on his way
to Cinema Odion. The accused were Iyassu, the son of Ras Tessema, who was a
government employee and Michael Wella who was a janitor at the Federal High
Court and was dismissed from his job. The government claimed that they found
two hand grenades and a pistol with Iyassu and a hand grenade with Michael.
- The official newspapers printed the above news on its front pages
and praised Major ‘Sium’ who foiled the ‘assassination plot’ and who led to the
arrest of the assassins. The media also published messages sent
to the Chief Executive congratulating him on his safety and the arrest of the perpetrators.
- Following the arrest of the two persons, the police arrested the
relatives of the ‘Iyassu Ras Tessema and they were his
brothers, Atzmach Gebre Kidan Tessema
and Deje Atzmach Abraha Tessema , and his son Grazemach Asberom Abraha Tessema. The Police
searched their homes.
- Atzmach
Gebre Kidan Tessema was a member of
Parliament and enjoyed parliamentary immunity. His
arrest was a violation of Article 54 of the Eritrean Constitution. The arrest was justified by the
claim that it was on the permission from the Assembly President, Ali Raday. The President of the Assembly later tried to lift the parliamentary immunity
of Gebre Kidan and tried to get it approved from the
Parliament. The majority of the members
of the Assembly voted against the request of President of the Assembly,
and considered the arrest of MP
Gebre Kidan illegal.
- The Chief Executive afterwards sent a letter to the Assembly and requested it to reconsider
its former decision not to lift the Parliamentary immunity of
Gebre Kidan, referring to "the public security interest" clause as
stated in Article 20 and citing Declaration No. 104
of 1952. Based on
the request, and through loyalists of the Unionist Party members, the
majority of the Assembly Representatives voted on the 29th of
October, 1953 in favour of approving the request of the Chief Executive and
thus all the children of Ras Tessema were put in prison.
- Since that date the relatives of Ras Tessema were dismissed from their jobs
and those affected included Ras Tessema, Djetzmatch Berhe and his son Gebre
Kidan and his grand son, Gratzmatch Asberom Abraha Tessema and son-in-law
Djetzmatch Geberezghi. The Mufti indicated that this move was to punish them
for their position in support of independence.
- The family
of Ras Asberom Tessema filed a case against the Eritrean Government stating
that the arrest of their family members was illegal and won the case. The
judges that looked at the case that were two British, one Italian and another
by the name of Meles Girma who ruled on 21 December, 1953 that the measures of
the arrest were illegal. The three arrested family members were released after
57 days in prison. The official newspapers did not carry the news of the
release although it had covered their arrest in the front pages.
- On February 2, 1954,the Regional Court of Asmara sentenced Iyassu Tessema to ten
years in prison claiming that he was carrying
a pistol and grenades. The second
person
accused was declared innocent for collaborating with the Police in foiling the
assassination attempt.
- On April 17, 1954 the Supreme Court, headed
by Mr Shearer and
the membership of Mr Bruna
issued a ruling invalidating
the regional court ruling in Asmara and declared Iyassu Tessema innocent
of the charges filed against him. Immediately after
the issuance of this rule, Iyassu
was released from prison after 5 months and 23 days. The Mufti indicated in comments on the ruling that it was sheer
luck that those who presided over the Court were qualified foreign judges and
stated that the charges were for retaliation purposes. Otherwise, the accusers
could have been the judges and could have declared the innocent as guilty.
- Sources close of the Supreme Court during that period
indicated that the Chief Executive wrote a strong letter to Mr.
Shearer that the judges are not complying to the traditions of the country and
asked them to resign but the judge responded stating that they ruled according
to the law.
- The sons
of Ras Tessema afterwards filed a case against the Eritrean Government
demanding compensation for the damage to their reputation due to the false
accusations and for compensation of the financial loss incurred.
The original report can be accessed here:
(Translation from Arabic to English, mine)
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