Eritrea: Fighter Pilot, Escapee, Calls for Justice for Jailed Compatriots

Dejen Ande Hishel was an elite Eritrean fighter pilot. He trained in Russia and flew twin-engine MiG-29 Soviet jets during Eritrea’s war with Ethiopia in the late 1990s.

But in 1999, Eritrean authorities arrested him, for reasons that remain unclear. He was never formally charged with a crime or faced trial, but nonetheless he spent 15 years in a maximum-security prison before escaping in 2014.

...

AllAfrica publishes around 500 reports a day from more than 100 news organizations and over 500 other institutions and individuals, representing a diversity of positions on every topic. We publish news and views ranging from vigorous opponents of governments to government publications and spokespersons. Publishers named above each report are responsible for their own content, which AllAfrica does not have the legal right to edit or correct.

Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica. To address comments or complaints, please Contact us.