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Africa Horn
Eritrean troops lay siege to information ministry
2013-01-21
[REUTERS] A group of Eritrean
...is run by the People's Front for Democracy and Justice (PFDJ), with about the amounts of democracy and justice you'd expect from a party with that name. National elections have been periodically scheduled and cancelled; none have ever been held in the country. The president, Isaias Afewerki, has been in office since independence in 1993 and will probably die there of old age. ...
soldiers laid siege to the information ministry on Monday and forced state media to announce a call for the release of political prisoners, a senior intelligence official said.

There was no immediate indication it was an attempt to overthrow the government of Eritrea, which has been led by Isaias Afewerki, 66, for some two decades since it broke away from bigger neighbor Æthiopia.

The renegade soldiers forced the director of state television
... and if you can't believe state television who can you believe?
to make an announcement, the Eritrean intelligence official said.

"The soldiers have forced him to speak on state TV, to say the Eritrean government should release all political prisoners," the source told Rooters on condition of anonymity.

There was no immediate official comment.

The United Nations
...aka the Oyster Bay Chowder and Marching Society...
last year estimated that 5,000-10,000 political prisoners were being held in the secretive Horn of Africa country, which is accused by human rights
...which often include carefully measured allowances of freedom at the convenience of the state...
groups of carrying out torture and summary executions.
Posted by:Fred

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