Federal Prosecutor’s Office Investigations: Terrorist Group or Peaceful Brigade?
The German branch of the internationally active group does not shy away from violent acts against events supported by the Eritrean government, it added. This includes the 2022 and 2023 Eritrea Festivals in Giessen, as well as a seminar for Eritreans loyal to the regime in Stuttgart in 2023. Numerous police officers were injured, some seriously, during the protests.
In addition to the searches in Hesse, North Rhine-Westphalia, Bavaria, Baden-Württemberg, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, and Rhineland-Palatinate, a simultaneous search was conducted in Denmark. No one was arrested. Another suspect, who was active for the N'Hamedu Brigade in both the Netherlands and Germany, was recently sentenced to several years in prison by a Dutch court for his involvement in riots on February 17, 2024, in The Hague.
Eritrea is one of the most brutal dictatorships in the world. Dictator Isayas Afewerki has ruled the small country on the Horn of Africa with an iron fist for over 30 years. There have never been free elections, and neither the judiciary nor the press are independent. Young people are forced into often lifelong military service, even sold as slave soldiers in the Ethiopian civil war.
Many people are therefore fleeing abroad. Here they encounter fellow countrymen, some of whom have lived here for over 30 years and are ardent supporters of the Eritrean dictatorship, celebrating it in Germany and collecting funds for the country affected by international embargoes . Refugees have been demonstrating against these events since 2011, and since 2022, some demonstrators have resorted to violence, apparently directed by the N'Hamedu Brigade.
Democratic opponents of the Eritrean dictatorship in Germany often reject the Brigade's military-like nature and its violence. Others, however, strongly reject the claim that the N'Hamedu Brigade is a terrorist organization. The opposition is deeply divided.
Munich-based attorney Rita Drar represents a defendant in the riots who has been in pre-trial detention for one and a half years. "We need to clarify what this is about," she told taz. "Government opponents who have fled are taking action against events where, under the guise of civil society, funds are being raised for the regime in Eritrea."
Drar finds it "worrying" that the investigative authorities are not pursuing a dual approach and also investigating supporters of the Eritrean dictatorship in Germany. Democratic opponents of the dictatorship in Giessen reported to the taz newspaper that government supporters were using violence against them.
taz
