Martin Plaut

Sep 27

Source: Zeit

Updated September 23, 2023, 6:05 p.m 139 comments

Violence at Eritrea festivals: Eritrean soldiers march during Independence Day celebrations in the capital Asmara in May.

Eritrean soldiers march during Independence Day celebrations in the capital Asmara in May. © J. Countess/​Getty Images

No violence! He repeatedly impressed upon his group this, says Amanuel Zeru. When the situation escalated, he fell to his knees, his arms spread out like a cross, and some of his fellow soldiers did the same. They wanted to demonstrate peacefully against the regime that forced them to flee their homeland of Eritrea . And against those compatriots who continue to remain loyal to the dictatorship from Germany.

On July 8, thousands of supporters of the dictator Isayas Afewerki traveled to Giessen for the “Eritrea Festival,” an annual event that pays homage to the regime of the small East African country and raises money. Zeru and other opposition members wanted to prevent the event - not all of them only by peaceful means. Zeru later told ZEIT that no one in his group was armed But others had stones and bottles in their hands.

At the end of that day, the police in Giessen recorded several clashes in the city, over 100 arrests and 26 injured police officers. Amanuel Zeru also ended up in police custody.

In August there was violence at Eritrea festivals in Stockholm and Toronto, at the beginning of September in Tel Aviv, and a few days ago, on September 16th, there were again riots in Stuttgart on the occasion of an event close to the regime. Amanuel Zeru was not there. But again, numerous police officers were injured. “Foreign conflicts must not be fought in our country,” said Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD). The violent perpetrators must “feel the full severity of criminal law and immigration law,” said Baden-Württemberg’s Interior Minister Thomas Strobl (CDU). Statements that are intended to calm a rightly outraged public. The only question is: who brought this conflict to European and German soil?Newsletter

Eritrea is a small country in the Horn of Africa, its area is approximately the same as that of East Germany. In 1993, Eritrea gained independence from Ethiopia after decades of war. The leader was Isayas Afewerki. The freedom hero soon turned out to be a despot. Afewerki, now 77 years old, has been president for 30 years without ever giving his people the opportunity to vote again. He turned Eritrea into a police state and introduced a "national service". It lasts six years or half a lifetime; Men and women can be drafted again at any time to perform forced labor or go to war. The fear of being attacked by larger countries has long since turned into a policy of permanent aggression.This article comes from ZEIT No. 40/2023. You can read the entire issue here.

Around a million Eritreans now live outside their home country. That's almost one in five. In Germany there are around 80,000. And almost everywhere in the diaspora there are two groups: on the one hand, those who left the country before it became independent. For them, Afewerki remains the hero of the freedom struggle; they celebrate their homeland in clubs, for example organizing themselves in the "Central Council of Eritreans in Germany", which organizes the Eritrea Festival in Giessen and is also connected to the event in Stuttgart. Similar events take place all over the world.

On the other hand, there is the growing number of young exiles like Amanuel Zeru, who now make up the majority in the Eritrean foreign community. For them, Afewerki is the dictator who forced them out of the country along the long sub-Saharan route, first to Sudan, then to Libya, then across the Mediterranean to Europe. To avoid national service, Amanuel Zeru came to Germany via this route at the age of 14. Many die while fleeing or are kidnapped and mistreated by smugglers in order to extort more money. In Germany, most Eritreans receive subsidiary protection; the recognition rate was recently 84 percent.

The conflict between the two camps has been escalating for years. Not only, but especially around the Eritrea Festival in Giessen. The event has been taking place in the Hessenhallen since 2011, accompanied by peaceful protests from the opposing side - until these escalated for the first time in 2022. Around 100 people broke away from the counter-demonstration and attacked helpers and festival guests as well as police officers with iron bars, knives and stones. 33 people were injured, the police spoke of an "excess of violence" and the festival did not take place.

Stuttgart: Police officers surround a group of participants during riots at an Eritrea event on September 16th. © Jason Chepljakov/​pa/​dpa

In mid-May, two months before this year's riots, Amanuel Zeru sits in the train station café in a medium-sized city and tells how his cell phone rang one night at the end of April. Amanuel Zeru bounces his legs, constantly plays with his car keys, and looks at passers-by. A few weeks earlier, he had tried to prevent the concert of an Eritrean pop star who is said to be close to the regime. He wanted to persuade the operator of the concert hall to cancel. Amanuel Zeru believes that word has got around in circles loyal to the regime. Hence the late night call. On the other end: the man known in the exile community as "Bob."

Zeru documented the call, so the conversation went like this:

Bob: "Look, I know where you live. You have two kids, think about them."

Amanuel Zeru: "Don't talk about my children!"

Bob: "One bullet from an Albanian is enough. I'll make sure you end up in a wheelchair."

Since then, says Amanuel Zeru, he has avoided leaving the house in the evenings.

If you talk to opposition Eritreans in Germany, the name "Bob" is always mentioned when they report threats and gangs of thugs. Also in ZEIT 's conversation with an opposition Eritrean in exile in Kassel, who stated that men asked him on the street a few days after the 2022 Eritrea Festival whether he had been involved in the protest against the festival. They then tried to pull him into a minibus. The man filed a complaint, as did another exile who was apparently threatened by the same group shortly afterwards. He also stated that he had previously received a threatening call from “Bob”. After two months, the Kassel public prosecutor's office stopped the investigation: "A perpetrator could not be identified," she wrote.

The name "Bob" is also mentioned when exiles talk about a group that allegedly acts in the service of the regime abroad: Eri-Blood.

The organization is not registered in any association register, there is no clubhouse, no board of directors. But there are many alleged attacks on dissidents. A 2017 study, commissioned by the Dutch Foreign Ministry, mentions arson in Sweden and spying attempts in the Netherlands. Suspected Eri Blood members also drove cars into groups of people in Norway and Italy. The study describes Eri-Blood as the "militant wing" of the only authorized party in Eritrea, Afewerki's "Popular Front for Democracy and Justice."

Members of the Central Council of Eritreans in Germany, a kind of umbrella organization for pro-regime associations, referred to Eri-Blood as "our security guards" at an internal event last year, a recording of which is available to ZEIT. The association's board did not want to comment on this to ZEIT.

During the Eritrea Festival in Giessen in July 2023, the Hessian YouTuber Joachim Schaefer approached men at the gate to the exhibition center who acted like security forces but were clearly not part of the official security company. In the video, Schaefer asks the men if they belonged to Eri-Blood. On their black T-shirts there is a red "52", which could stand for the fifth and second letters in the Latin alphabet, for "E" and "B", possibly a code for Eri-Blood. The men avoided Schaefer's questions.

A man in his 50s also appears in his video, with a silvery beard, a stern look, a bright voice, and he is missing one front tooth. He appears dominant; you get the impression that the men in the black T-shirts are listening to him. “What’s the problem with celebrating a dictator?” he asks in the video. When Schaefer released his film two days later, he received a call from the man complaining. The number is the same as the threatening call to Amanuel Zeru. The man in the video is apparently "Bob". By the time of going to press, ZEIT had attempted to contact “Bob” several times at this cell phone number. Without success.

“Bob's” real name is known in the diaspora: Neamin Bereket M. ZEIT asked various Hessian security authorities about possible investigations and their level of knowledge about Eri-Blood and “Bob's” role. The tenor of the answers: Nobody knows anything about the structures of the regime in Germany. So far, there are no “specific facts known in which there were threats or physical attacks by supporters of the Eritrean regime against opposition members,” says the Hesse State Criminal Police Office.

Why does a poor country in the Horn of Africa need a thugs in Europe? Why is it so intent on controlling its diaspora? Because it's worth it. The CIA estimates that almost a third of Eritrean gross domestic product comes from diaspora remittances.

Israel: Girls play in an Eritrean community center in Eilat. Thousands of Eritreans live in Israel. There were riots in Tel Aviv in September. © Laetitia Vancon/​NYT/​Redux/​laif

The central flow of this foreign currency, which is valuable for the dictatorship, is the “diaspora tax”: two percent of the annual net income of Eritreans abroad – for life. Those loyal to the regime pay them voluntarily, while opponents of the regime have to pay them if they want to use embassy or consulate services. The diaspora tax has been officially banned in Germany since 2011.

Amanuel Zeru refuses to help finance the regime he fled. That's why he applied for German citizenship after 16 years in Germany. Because the immigration authorities required proof of Eritrean identity, he would have had to go to the consulate general or the embassy. Zeru refused, and the authority requested a written statement. He presented it in 2019. Nothing has happened since then, he says.

“Eritrea is doing a lot to control its diaspora,” says Marcel Kasprzyk. "And German authorities are doing little to counter this." The Frankfurt lawyer with a focus on migration law represents numerous refugees from Eritrea. As a rule, according to Kasprzyk, refugees arrive in Germany without papers. Some never had them, others had them taken from them while they were fleeing, others lost them or destroyed them to avoid being sent back to Eritrea. By requiring official Eritrean identity proof for naturalization, permanent residence permits, family reunification or marriage, the German authorities are forcing refugees back into the arms of the regime. And that, says Kasprzyk, requires not only money, but also penance.

"Taesa" is the name of the declaration of repentance that opposition Eritreans have to sign at the embassy or consulate general. ZEIT has the original and an English translation of the document. In it, the refugees have to reveal private data and explain in detail how they escaped. And they must sign that they regret violating their “national duties” and will accept “appropriate measures.” They will only find out what happens to them if they return to Eritrea at some point. "The Taesa hangs over them like the sword of Damocles," says Marcel Kasprzyk, the lawyer.

In October 2022, the Federal Administrative Court ruled that it was unreasonable to put those seeking protection in such a situation. An important judgment, says Kasprzyk. But the responsible authorities are slow to change their practices.

Other countries are taking more decisive action. For example, in 2018, the Netherlands expelled a high-ranking Eritrean diplomat because refugees continued to be forced to pay the diaspora tax.

Amanuel Zeru is now waiting for further news from the police. A week before the festival in Gießen, he received a “threat speech” because he was already there in 2022 when the protests against the festival escalated for the first time. The official note said he should stay away from the demonstration this time: “Avoid any further potentially criminal behavior!”

After his arrest in July 2023, he sat in a cell for 24 hours. He cried, he says, because the regime was drinking and dancing outside - and because he feared for his residence permit. He has not yet heard anything from the Giessen police, who are now investigating 125 cases on suspicion of bodily harm and breach of the peace.

In response to a request from ZEIT, the State Office for the Protection of the Constitution in Hesse said it was currently examining in detail "the extent to which anti-constitutional efforts are emanating from individual people and/or groups of people with a connection to Eritrea." It remains unclear whether this refers to the opposition members who network across Europe or groups close to the regime such as Eri-Blood.

Two weeks after the Eritrea Festival in Giessen, Amanuel Zeru took part in a meeting of hundreds of opponents of the Eritrean dictatorship in Hanau, some of whom came from the USA and Australia. For Zeru it was an important event; he hopes that the younger generation, the dictator's opponents, will soon set the tone in the diaspora. On the eve of the meeting in Hanau, around 20 men attacked a meeting point of the Eritrean opposition in Frankfurt. They broke windows and car windows. The police are investigating.

 

Thursday, 28 September 2023 21:31

Dimtsi Harnnet Kassel 28.09.2023

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ቅድሚ ክልተ ዓመት እስራኤል ዓሰርተታት ኣሽሓት ሸከል ንኤምባሲ ኤርትራ ምኽፋላ ተሓቢሩ። ላዕለዎት ሰበስልጣን ሰብ መዚ ህዝብን ኢሚግሬሽንን እስራኤል፡ እቲ ገንዘብ ነቶም ካብ እስራኤል ብድልየቶም ናብ ሃገሮም ክምለሱ ተሰማሚዖም ዝነበሩ ኤርትራውያን ስደተኛታት መሳለጢ ሰነዳቶም ዝዓለመ ምዃኑ እዮም ዝገልጹ። እቲ ምስግጋር ናይ ሰነዳት ኣብ መንጎ እቲ ትካልን ውልቀ መላኺ ኢሳያስ ኣፍወርቂን ዘሎ ርክብ ዘርኢ መርትዖ እዩ ተባሂሉውን ይዝረበሉ።

እዚ ገንዘብዚ ላዕለዎት ሓለፍቲ ህዝቢ፤ ኢምግረሽንን ሚኒስትሪ ውሽጣዊ ጉዳያን ቅድሚ ክልተ ዓመታት ነቲ መደብ ንምስልሳል እስራኤል ንኤምባሲ ኤርትራ ዝኸፈለቶ ከምዝኾነ ምርግጋጾም ሃረትዝ ዝተባህለት ማዕከን ዜና ብዕለት 25 መስከረም 2023 ኣብዝወጸ ሕታማ ገሊጻ‘ላ።

ኣብ ዝሓለፉ ዓመታት ኤርትራ እታ ሓንቲ ንዝኾነ ይኹን ኣገልግሎት ካብ ትካል ኢሚግሬሽን እስራኤል ገንዘብ ዝረኸበት እንኮ ሃገር ከምዝኾንት‘ውን እቲ መጽናዕቲ ኣረጋጊጹ ኣሎ።  እቲ ትካል ነዚ መስርሕ ብዝምልከት ካብ‘ታ ማዕከን ዜና ሃረትዝ ንዝቐረበሉ ወኸሳታት ኣብ ዝሃቦ መልሲ፣  ገና እቲ ግዳይ ግዜ ዝወስድንንሳምንታት ኣኼባታት ብምክያድ ብዝርዝር ክዝረበሉ ከምዝኾነ‘ውን ኣካያዳ ናይቲ ትካላ ገሊጹ ምህላዉ ተፈሊጡ።

ምስዚ ብምትሕሓዝ፣ እቲ ኣብ እስራኤል ዝርከብ  ኣካያዲ ስራሕ ቤት ጽሕፈት ህግደፍ፣ ውሳኔታት ክወስድ ነጻነት ስለዘይብሉን ስለዘይክእልን፣ ካብ ኣስመራ ቀጥታዊ መምርሒታት ከምዝጽበን ከምዝቕበልን  ምንጭታት  እስራኤል ጠቂሱ።

ማእከላይ ባይቶ ሰልፊ ዲሞክራሲ ህዝቢ ኤርትራ ካብ ዕለት 23 ክሳብ 24 መስከረም 2023 ኣብ ዘሎ ግዜ፣ ብኣቦ መንበር ሰልፊ ሓው ገረዝግሄር ተወልደ ዝተመርሐ መቐጸልታ ቀዳማይ አኼባኡ ኣሰላሲሉ። ኣብ መክፈቲ ናይቲ ኣኼባ ኣቦ መንበር ሰልፊ ንተገዳስነትን ተሳትፎን ኣባላት ድሕሪ ምምስጋን፣ ኣብ ሰልፋዊ ኮነ ሃገራውን ህዝባውን ጉዳያት ሰልፊ ዲሞክራሲ ህዝቢ ኤርትራ ዝህልዎ ትስፉው መጻእን ናይ ስራሕ ኣሳልጦን ዘለዎ ባህጊ ገሊጹ።

ኣስዒቡ፣ ድሕሪ መረጻ ፈጻሚ ሽማግለን ብዓንቀጽ 5.14.6 ቅዋማዊ ናይ ርኽክብ ግዜን መሰረት፣ ሓድሽ ፈጻሚ ሽማግለ ምሉእ ናይ ስራሕ ርኽክብ ድሕሪ ምስልሳሉ ፈጺሙ ንመጀመርታ ግዜ ዝግበር ዘሎ ኣኼባ ብምዃኑ፣ ኣቦ መንበር ሰልፊ፣ ኣኼባ ዝተጸዋዓሎም  ሰለስተ መሰረታዊ ጉዳያት መብርሂ ብምቕራብ’ዩ ተጀሚሩ።

በቲ ዝተታሕዘ ኣጀንዳ መሰረት፣ እቲ ቀዳማይ ነጥቢ፣ብዓንቀጽ 7.1.1 መሰረት ንመረጻ ጠቕላላ ተቆጻጻሪ ገንዘብን ንብረትን ሰልፊ ዝምልከት ክኸውን ከሎ  ኣብቲ ክፍሊ ብዝጸንሐ ናይ ስራሕ ጽፈትን ኣሰራርሓን ኣብ ግምት ብምእታው፣ ማእከላይ ባይቶ ሓው ፍጹም ኢሳቕ ጠቕላላ ተቆጻጻሪ ሰልፊ ኮይኑ ንኸገልግል ማእከላይ ባይቶ ብምሉእ ድምጺ ኣጽዲቑ።

ቀጺሉ ዝሳዓበ ኣጀንዳ ዓመታዊ መደብ ዕዮ ኣብያተ ጽሕፈት ሰልፍን ምቛም ምምሕዳራቱን ኮይኑ፣ ነፍሲ ወከፍ ኣባል ፈጻሚ ሽማግለ ኣቐዲሙ ናብ ቤት ጽሕፈት ኣቦ መንበር ብዘቕረቦ ንድፊ መሰረት፣ ክሳብ ነሓሰ 2024 ዘሎ ግዜ ከዐውቶም ዘለዎ ናይ ርሑቑን ናይ ቀረባን ትልሚ ትግባረ ዕማማትን ዝረቑሖም መሳርሕቱን  ኣብ ኣኼባ ባይቶ ምስ ዝርዝር መብርሂታት ቀሪቡ። ኣባላት ማእከላይ ባይቶ ብትሻዓተ ኣብያተ ጽሕፈታት ንዝቐረበ ዓመታዊ መደብ ዕዮ፣ ሓደ ብሓደ ድሕሪ ምዝርራብ፣ ምስ ዝቐረቡ ተወሰኽቲ ሓሳባትን ምምሕያሻትን ኣጽዲቁ። ብናይ 4ይ ጉባኤ ሰልፊ ለበዋታት መሰረት ድማ ኩሉም ኣባላት ማእከላይ ባይቶን ካድራት ሰልፍን ብኽእለቶምን ሞይኦምን ኣብ ዘፍርይሉ ትካላት ክምደቡ ከምዝግባእ ባይቶ ደጊሙ ኣረጋጊጹ።

ማእከላይ ባይቶ፣  ነቲ ዳርጋ 4 ዓመታት ዝወሰደ ልዝብ ፖለቲካዊ ሓይልታት ኤርትራን ኣብ ሓምለ 14.2023 ግዝያዊ ሓባራዊ መሪሕነት ንምቛም ዝበጽሖ ስምምዕን፣ ኣገዳስነቱ ኮነ ኣብዚ ዘለናዮ መድረኽ ዘለዎ ዕዙዙነት ኣብ ግምት ብምእታው ሰፊሕን ግዜ ዝወሰደን ክታዓት ኣካይዱ። ምዕዋት መስርሕ ሓባራዊ ስራሓት ዋላ’ኳ ነዊሕ ግዜ ዝወሰደ እንተኾነ፣ ማእከላይ ባይቶ፡ ንዝተኻየደ ጻዕርታት ንኢዱ፡ ክሳብዚ እዋ’ዚ ፖለቲካዊ ሓይልታት ኤርትራ በጺሕዎ ንዘሎ ስምምዓት ቅኑዕ መዋጽኦ ኣብ ጉዕዞ ሓባራዊ ስራሓት ምዃኑ ድማ ርእዩ። ማእከላይ ባይቶ ህዝቢ ኤርትራ ካብዚ ኣብ ልዕሊኡ ዝፍጸም ዘሎ ወጽዓ ንላዕሊ ክጸውር ስለዘይክእልን ማዕረ ድልየቱን ድሕነቱን ንምስጓም፡  ዝተበጽሐ ስምምዓት ንድሕሪት ከይምለስን ንዘጋጥሙ ዕንቅፋታት ንምውጋድን ሰልፊ ዲሞክራሲ ህዝቢ ኤርትራ ዝካኣሎ እወንታዊ ግደ ንከበርክት ከይተሓለሎ ክጽዕር ከምዝግባእ ኣተኣማሚኑ። ኣብ ምቅልጣፍ ምቛም ሓባራዊ ግዝያዊ መሪሕነት ንዝተቐልቀሉ ናእሽቱ ጸገማት ክስገሩን ክሳብ ክንደይ እዮም ማዕረ ድልየትን ባህግን መላእ ህዝቢ ዝስርዑ ንዝብልውን ኣስተብህሎ ከምዝደሊ ኣኼባ ኣገንዚቡ።

መስርሕ ሓባራዊ ስራሕ ኣብዚ ከይተደርተ መሊኡ ንኽዕወትን ውድቐት ህግደፍ ንምቅልጣፍን፣ ነቲ ፖለቲካዊ ሓይልታት ኤርትራ ዝተሰማማዓሉ መቆሚታት ዝቕበል ኩሉ ተቓዋሚ ኣካል፣ ክሳተፎ ተደላይነት ከም ዘለዎን ጻዕርታት ክግበር ከምዝግባኣን’ውን ኣኼባ ባይቶ ገምጊሙ።

ኣብ መጠረስታ፣ ማእከላይ ባይቶ ሓገዝቲ ናይ ስራሕ ለበዋታትን ተወሰኽቲ ሓሳባትን ብምቕራብ እዩ ኣኼባኡ ደምዲሙ።

 

Martin Plaut

Sep 23

Source: Swedish Radio

The government wants to stop Eritrea's "diaspora tax"

Published Saturday 9 September at 16:37

·        The Eritrean dictatorship tries to control exiled Eritreans in Sweden, among other things by forcing them to pay a so-called "diaspora tax", approximately two percent of one's annual income.

·        Now both the government and the Social Democrats want to see an end to this, Foreign Minister Tobias Billström and the Social Democrats' Morgan Johansson inform Ekot.

·        The tax, which Eritrea claims is "voluntary", has been criticized by several Eritreans in exile and is believed to be part of the explanation for violent riots that broke out in early August in connection with an Eritrean cultural festival in Stockholm.

Erik Norman
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

 

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Martin Plaut posted: " Abraham Teklu Lemma, 50, of Silver Spring, Md., was charged with three counts of conspiracy, gathering or delivering national defense information to aid a foreign government Source: Washington Post A Maryland man of Ethiopian descent, Abraham Tek" Martin Plaut

 

Martin Plaut

Sep 22

Abraham Teklu Lemma, 50, of Silver Spring, Md., was charged with three counts of conspiracy, gathering or delivering national defense information to aid a foreign government

Source: Washington Post

A Maryland man of Ethiopian descent, Abraham Teklu Lemma, is accused of passing on classified national defense information about a region where soldiers battled rebels

By Spencer S. Hsu

September 21, 2023 at 4:23 p.m. EDT

A contract employee for the State and Justice departments has been charged with espionage, U.S. prosecutors announced Thursday, accused of passing on classified information since August 2022 to an official associated with Ethiopia’s intelligence service.

Abraham Teklu Lemma, 50, of Silver Spring, Md., was charged in an Aug. 23 complaint unsealed Thursday on three counts of conspiracy, gathering or delivering national defense information to aid a foreign government, and unauthorized possession and willful retention of national defense information, Justice Department and FBI officials said. The first two counts are punishable by up to life in prison and the last count by up to 10 years.

An attorney for Lemma could not immediately be identified.

In a statement announcing the charges, the U.S. attorney’s office and FBI field office in Washington said Lemma is a naturalized U.S. citizen from Ethiopia who had Top Secret/SCI clearance and access to classified systems as an IT administrator for the Department of State and as a management analyst for the Justice Department. He was arrested Aug. 24, but a scheduled bond hearing Thursday before a federal judge in Washington was not held, and no information was immediately available on the court’s public docket system.

A charging affidavit released by the Justice Department alleges that since February 2022, Lemma copied classified secret and top secret information from more than 100 intelligence reports and removed information from secure facilities without authorization. In August and September that year, Lemma allegedly transmitted classified national defense information to the official associated with Ethiopia’s intelligence service, including satellite imagery and information related to Eritrean activities in Ethiopia’s Tigray region.

Charging papers did not name Ethiopia, but accused Lemma of spying for a country where he was previously a citizen, had family ties and recently visited. An FBI affidavit also described military activities consistent with those of armed rebels battling allied Ethiopian and Eritrean government soldiers at the time.

According to the FBI, Lemma communicated with the foreign official by encrypted chat, where they discussed rebel military activity and Lemma sent photos of a “military compound.” The official advised Lemma, in those chats, “[i]t is great to identify the forward deployed command centers and logistic centers.”

In another communication, the foreign official stated, “[i]t’s time to continue ur support,” and Lemma responded, “Roger that!” according to the compliant. The foreign official allegedly praised Lemma’s efforts, stating “[a]lways this beautiful country have [sic] some special people who scarify [sic] their life to protect our proud history. You always remembered. It doesn’t matter the results.”

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The FBI said an authorized search of Lemma’s electronic accounts on non-secure networks confirmed that he possessed classified national defense information including digital photographic copies, notes and maps that he sent to the foreign official.

On four days in August, Lemma was observed at work reviewing classified intelligence reports outside of his authorized access using the State Department’s classified computer system and accessing non-department classified portals, either writing information on sheets of paper he folded and carried out of the department in his pockets or copying and pasting information into documents he burned into a CD/DVD disc and was observed taking home with him, according to the FBI.

Most recently, on Aug. 18, State Department records indicate Lemma completed approximately 10 downloads, most of which were classified at the “TOP SECRET” or “SECRET” level.

The FBI said Lemma was also seen angrily discouraging a Maryland bank branch employee from filing a currency transaction report when he attempted to deposit more than $11,700 on July 15, shortly after he had copied without authorization at least 16 intelligence reports. The transaction was part of more than $55,000 in deposits dating to the beginning of 2022 that a case agent deemed suspicious.

Lemma previously worked for another government agency identified in court papersonly as “U.S. Agency 1” from November 2020 to December 2021, in addition to working during evening hours as a State Department bureau of intelligence and research help desk technician and IT administrator, and as a daytime contract management analyst since May 2022 for the Justice Department.

 

Sunday, 24 September 2023 10:06

Dimtsi Harnnet Sweden 23.09.2023

Written by
Thursday, 21 September 2023 19:56

Dimtsi Harnnet Kassel 21.09.2023

Written by

Martin Plaut

Sep 21

Source: SWR September 20 , 2023 , 10:10 p.m

·         

The Eritrea event next Saturday in Stuttgart will not take place. The city of Stuttgart announced this on Wednesday evening. The state capital and the Association of Eritrean Clubs have mutually agreed to cancel the rental agreement for a municipal gym and meeting hall in Stuttgart-Zuffenhausen. This means the event is off the table.

City: “Decision in the interest of public safety”

The decision was made in the interest of public safety and order, the city of Stuttgart said in a written statement. There were intensive discussions between the clubs and the mayor of Stuttgart, Clemens Maier (Free Voters).Start audio

After riots at Eritrea eventSecurity measures: SPD interior expert directs questions to the city of Stuttgart

ban on the Eritrea event next Saturday had been discussed for days. Politicians in Baden-Württemberg debated ways to ban the event.

Association of Eritrean clubs was cooperative

“We only did this to take greater account of the concerns of citizens and the public,” said Johannes Russom from the umbrella organization of Eritrean associations in Stuttgart to the German Press Agency. The association also wants to show its willingness to cooperate.

But this is not a capitulation to violence; the cancellation should not send the wrong signal. Events will continue to be held in Stuttgart and they want to rent rooms from the city again in the future. Saturday's meeting has only been postponed - "indefinitely," said Russom. They want to help de-escalate the situation.

Stuttgart's mayor Frank Nopper (CDU) welcomed the fact that the rental agreement for the event next Saturday had been terminated. On Wednesday evening he reiterated his demand that last weekend's violent perpetrators be punished harshly and quickly.

Police warn violent criminals not to travel to Stuttgart

Stuttgart Police Vice President Carsten Höfler was relieved by the decision to cancel the rental agreement. “This is a strong signal towards a future non-violent political conflict between the two conflict parties of Eritrean origin,” said Höfler on Wednesday evening.

We can only hope that the repeal has an impact and reaches everyone who had planned to travel to Stuttgart again at the weekend.

Police Vice President of Stuttgart, Carsten Höfler

Höfler announced that the police would still be very attentive next weekend. "We will have emergency services both on duty and on standby in order to be able to react consistently and in a low-threshold manner when possible troublemakers arrive. "I stand by this: Scenes like last Saturday must not be allowed to repeat themselves in Stuttgart!"

Last Saturday there were massive riots on the sidelines of an event organized by Eritrean clubs in Stuttgart. 32 police officers were injured. More than 200 people were arrested at short notice. Investigations are underway for, among other things, dangerous bodily harm and serious breach of the peace. The background to the clashes is an internal Eritrean conflict. The suspects are believed to be opponents of the dictatorship in Eritrea. The association that organized the event is considered to be close to the government.

 

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