Two Catholic priests, Father Mihretab Stefanos, who is the parish priest of St. Michael’s parish of Segheneity Eparchy, and Abbot Abraham, a member of the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin (Franciscan Friars), were also arrested and detained at Adi Abeto prison alongside Tsalim, Agenzia Fides reported.
The members of the clergy are being accused of highlighting violations of human rights in Eritrea in their homilies, the source said.
The human rights violations, the source added, include “imprisonment of parents (women and men), mobilization of deserved army people, young people [taken] by force to the war fronts, closing homes, [and] confiscation of animals from those people who have refused to go to war.”
In May, officials of several United Kingdom-based Christian entities expressed concern about “continuing unjust” human rights violations in Eritrea.
In a letter sent to the Eritrean ambassador in the United Kingdom and Ireland, officials of Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW), Church in Chains - Ireland, Release Eritrea, Human Rights Concern - Eritrea, and the Eritrean Orthodox Church in the United Kingdom highlighted multiple instances of human rights violations.
“We remain concerned at the continuing unjust, arbitrary, and indefinite detention of tens of thousands of Eritrean citizens in harsh conditions, including hundreds of Christians imprisoned solely on account of their faith,” officials of the Christian organizations said in their May 20 letter addressed to Ambassador Estifanos Habtemariam Ghebreyesus.