Eritrean journalists go on hunger strike

President Afewerki's government rarely capitulates

By the BBC's Alex Last In Asmara

Ten Eritrean journalists, arrested and detained without charge since September, have gone on hunger strike.

Despite their case being publicised by human rights groups, they still remain in prison six months later.

In a message passed from inside their prison, the journalists said they were refusing food from Sunday onwards, to ensure their right to justice.

They have demanded to be brought before a fair and independent court to face trial.

The government closed the private press and jailed the journalists in September, saying the press was receiving illegal foreign funding and was working to destabilise the nation.

A commission has been set up to officially establish a new, responsible private press.

The Eritrean presidential adviser, Yemani Gebremeskel, said that any delay in the trial was a matter for the legal system.

Neither the minister of justice nor the attorney general have been available for comment.

Calling for reform

The journalists insist they have only been interrogated once in the six months - when they were questioned about their links to 11 top government officials, who were also detained in September.

The officials had publicly criticised President Isayas Afewerki, and called for democratic reform.

The Eritrean Government insists the officials are traitors and defeatists who tried to oust the president.

The private press had published interviews with dissidents, and before being closed down it was the forum for a public debate on the state of the nation.

It is not clear how long the hunger strike will last. The journalists hope it will raise international awareness of their plight.

However, the Eritrean Government rarely bows to outside pressure.

For the journalists' families - who deliver food to the prison - their ordeal has become visibly harder, as their carefully prepared meals are now returned untouched.