የታሰርኩ ለታ አጥናፍ ብርሃኔ

1.    ‹‹ከዛ ቤት በህይወት የምወጣ አልመሰለኝም ነበር››  

ስያዝ ከበፍቄ ጋር ነበርኩ፡፡ አገር ሰላም ብዬ በነጋታው ለሚደረገው የቴዲ አፍሮ ኮንሰርት ለመግባት ከአንድ ጓደኛዬ ጋር ቲዊት እንደራረግ ነበር፡፡ በፍቄ ጋር ከሆቴል ወጥተን በእግራችን እየተጓዝን እያለን ተከበብን፡፡ ደንግጨ ነበር፡፡ ግን ምንም ሳልል ዝም ብዬ የሚሆነውን ሳይ ስልካችንንና ላፕቶፓችንን ነጥቀው መኪና ውስጥ አስገቡን፡፡ ደቂቃዎች ቀድሞ የመጣው የማሂ መያዝ የነገሩን አይቀሬነት ግልጽ አድርጎልኝ ስለነበር ለመረጋጋት ሞከርኩ፡፡ መኪና ውስጥ በፍቄ ጋር ተጠጋግተን ተቀምጠን ትንሽ እንደሄድን ሌላ መኪና መጥቶ ነጣጠሉን፡፡ ከበፍቄ ስለይ ግን በጣም ደነገጥኩ፡፡

መኪናዋ ወደ አድዋ ድልድይ ይዛኝ ከሄደች በኋላ አካባቢው ላይ ካለ ፖሊስ ጣቢያ አስገቡኝ፡፡ ትንሽ እንደቆዩ ከጣቢያው አስወጥተው ወደቤቴ ወሰዱኝ፡፡ የሚገርመኝ ወደቤቴ ሲወስዱኝ ብዙ ጊዜ ቤቴ አካባቢ የምትቆም መኪና ነበረች ከፊት እየመራች የወሰደችን፡፡ መኪናዋን እኔ ብቻ ሳልሆን እነ በፍቄና ናቲም ያውቋታል፡፡ መኪናዋ እኔን ለመከታተል የተመደበ ሰው ነበር የሚይዛት ማለት ነው፡፡

ቤት ስንደርስ አባቴ ወደ ግቢ ሊገባ ሲል ተገጣጠምን፡፡ ወደ ውስጥ ስንገባ እናቴ ‹ዛሬ ደግሞ ጎረቤቱን ሁሉ ሰብስቦ ነው የመጣው› እያለች ስትናገር ይሰማኛል፡፡ እናቴ ሁኔታው እንዳልገባት አወቅሁ፡፡ እውነቱን ሲያውቁ ደግሞ ቤተሰብ መረበሽ ታየባቸው፡፡ ፍተሻው እየተደረገ እያለ ለመረጋጋት ሞከርኩ፡፡ ግን ሰውነቴን ድካም ድካም ይለኛል፡፡ አድካሚው ፍተሻ ሲገባደድ እራት ስጡት አሉ ለቤተሰብ፡፡ በዚህ ጊዜ እህቴ ‹ልትወስዱት ነው እንዴ› ብላ ቀወጠችው፡፡ በጣም አለቀሰች፡፡

እራት ቀርቦ ልበላ ብሞክር እንዴት ከጉሮሮየ ይውረድ! መመገብ አልቻልኩም፡፡ እህቴ እያለቀሰች እራት እንድበላ ታጎርሰኝ ነበር፡፡ አንዴ፣ ሁለቴ እንደጎረስኩ በቃኝ አልኳት፡፡ ድብልቅል ያለ ስሜት ነበር የሚሰማኝ፡፡ ፍተሻው አልቆ ከቤት ይዘውኝ ሲወጡ እናቴና አባቴ ተከትለውኝ ወጡ፡፡ መኪና ውስጥ ገብቼ ስንቀሳቀስ ‹ማርያም ትከተልህ የእኔ ልጅ!› የሚለው የእናቴ ድምጽ ይሰማኛል፡፡ ማዕከላዊ ስንደርስ ሰውነቴ የበለጠ እየዛለ ነበር፡፡ ዝም ብሎ ሰውነቴን ይደነዝዘኛል፡፡ ምዝገባው ተደርጎ ወደ እስር ክፍል ስወሰድ ኮሪደሩ ራሱ ያስፈራ ነበር፡፡ የእስር ክፍሉ ተከፍቶ ገባሁ፡፡ በሩ ከኋላዬ ሲዘጋ ባለሁበት ቆሜ ቀረሁ፡፡ ይቀፍፋል! ማዕከላዊ የእውነት ይቀፍፋል! ቤቱን ሳየው አንደገና ደነገጥሁ፡፡ ከዛ ቤት በህይወት የምወጣ አልመስልህ አለኝ፡፡ ክፍሉ ውስጥ ሌሎች ሁለት ሰዎችም ነበሩ፡፡ አንዱ በሙስሊሞች ጉዳይ የታሰረ ሲሆን ሌላኛው ደግሞ ከደቡብ ሱዳን ተይዞ የመጣ የጋምቤላ ክልል ተወላጅ የሽብር ተጠርጣሪ ነበር፡፡ ማዕከላዊ ውስጥ የመጀመሪያው ቀን ላይ እንቅልፍ በዓይኔ ዞር ሳይል ነው ያደርኩት፡፡ ፊቴን ወደ ግድግዳው አዙሬ በሀሳብ ተውጨ ሌሎቹስ ምን እያሰቡ ይሆን እያልኩ ሳሰላስል ነው  የነጋው፡፡  

“I thought that I wouldn’t leave that place alive” Atnaf Birhane

I was with Befqe when I was arrested. I was in a calm mood and was twitting with my friend about Tedy Afro’s concert the following day. We got surrounded the moment Befqe and me started to walk leaving the place where we were. I was scared. I was just watching what they were doing without saying a word and they took our phones and laptops and put us into a car. I heard about Mahi’s arrest few minutes ago so I was expecting this at any moment. I tried to calm down myself thinking about this. Befqe and me were sitting very close to each other in the car. After a short drive, another car came and they put us in different cars. I was very shocked when they depart me from Befqe.

The car I was in headed to the police station around Adwa Bridge. After spending some time at the police station they took me to my house. What surprises me was the car I was in was following another car which I have noticed several times parked around my house. Both Befqe and Natty also know about this car. Now I concluded that the car was assigned to spy on me.

We met my father at the gate of our house. While entering the house I overheard my mother saying “today he brought all the neighbours with himself”. I noticed that my mother have no clue about what’s going on. Later on, when they understand what is going on, my family members couldn’t hide how disturbed they are. I tried to calm down myself while the searching is being carried out. But I couldn’t resist the level of exhaustion I’m feeling. When they are done with their tiresome searching they told my family to give me a dinner. “Are you taking him?”, my sister screamed. She cried a lot.

I struggled to eat my dinner! I literally couldn’t eat. My sister was trying to force me to eat the food. She fed me (gursha) two times and then I stopped.  I couldn’t figure out what I’m really feeling. My parents followed us when the guys started to escort me out after the searching is complete. When the car moves I heard my mother’s good wish saying “may the Virgin Mary follows you, my son.” 

My body was extremely drained when we get to Maekelawi. I feel some sort of exhaustion awkwardly. We passed through a scary corridor while I was being taken to the prison cell after the registration. I get into the prison cell. When the slammed the door behind me I stopped inside the cell for a moment. It’s disgusting! Honestly speaking Maekelawi is disgusting! I was shocked when I looked around the cell. I thought that I wouldn’t leave that place alive. There were two other prisoners in the cell. One of them is arrested to the case related to the Ethiopian Muslims movement. The other one is a guy from the Gambella region caught in South Sudan for terrorism related cases. I spend the first night in Maekelawi without having a single moment of sleep. I kept on contemplating about my other friends (about others) and a new day started while I was engulfed by this thinking.