Eritrean authorities continue to detain Catholic Bishop Fikremariam Hagos Tsalim of Segheneity, who was arrested at the Asmara International Airport ob 15 October.
After the Catholic Church queried about the situation and his whereabouts, government authorities confirmed the bishop, who turns 52 on October 23, is in their custody. Bishop Tsalim was picked up soon after returning from a trip to Europe, but as of October 18, government authorities had not given any reasons for his detention.
Fides, news agency of the Pontifical Mission Societies, said Bishop Tsalim and two other priests were being held at Adi Abeto prison.
“We have received this ominous news (of the arrest) with immense pain and bewilderment at what is happening in our country,” Father Mussie Zerai, a Catholic priest of Eritrean origin who works with migrants, told Catholic News Service. “Our hope is that all priests and the bishop currently in custody will be released as soon as possible.”