የታሰርኩ ለታ - በተስፋለም ወልደየስ

1.    ‹ያዘዝኩትን ማክያቶ ሳልጠጣው ነው የወሰዱኝ››

ያሬድ ሙዚቃ ት/ቤት የቢግ ባንድ ሙዚቃ ስለነበር እሱን ለማየት ፕሮግራም ይዤ ነበር፡፡ ላፕቶፔን ይዤዋለሁ፤ ብዙ ጊዜ ላፕቶፔ አይለየኝም፡፡ በዚህ ምክንያት ተስፍሽ እኮ ቢሮውን ይዞ ነው የሚንቀሳቀሰው ይሉኛል ጓደኞቼ፡፡ ብሄራዊ ስደርስ ከታክሲ ወርጄ ታይም መጽሔትን ገዛሁና በአምባሳደር በኩል ወደ አራት ኪሎ የሚያደርሰኝን ታክሲ ያዝኩ፡፡ አራት ኪሎ ስደርስ ሰዓቴን ተመልክቼ የሆነ ካፌ ማክያቶ የምጠጣበት ጊዜ እንዳለኝ አሰብኩ፡፡ ከዛም ምርፋቅ ካፌ ገብቼ ማክያቶ አዝዤ ተቀመጥኩ፡፡

ወዲያው ብሄራዊ የገዛሁትን ታይም መጽሔት አውጥቼ ማንበብ ጀመርኩ፡፡ አንድ አንቀጽ እንዳነበብኩ ሦስት ሲቪል የለበሱ ሰዎች አጠገቤ ቆመው ተስፋለም ብለው ጠሩኝ፡፡ ቀና ብዬ ሳያቸው አላውቃቸውም፡፡ ምን ፈልጋችሁ ነው አልኳቸው፡፡ ለጥያቄ እንፈልግሃለን አሉኝ፡፡ እኔም እናንተ እነማን ናችሁ፣ መታወቂያ አሳዩኝ እስኪ ብዬ ጠየኳቸው፡፡ ምንም አይነት ድንጋጤ አልነበረኝም፤ እስር አንድ ቀን ሊመጣ እንደሚችል አስብ ነበር፡፡ መታወቂያ ስጠይቃቸው ከካፌው በር ውጭ የነበረን አንድ የደንብ ልብስ የለበሰ የፌደራል ፖሊስ አባል ይዘው መጡ፤ መታወቂያ አሳየኝ፣ የደንብ ልብሱንም ተመልክቼ ሁኔታው ገባኝ፡፡

ከካፌው እንድንወጣ ሲያደርጉኝ ያዘዝኩትን ማክያቶ አልጠጣሁትም ነበር፡፡ ሳነበው የነበረውን መጽሔትና ላፕቶፔን ነጥቀው ወደበር ይዘውኝ ወጡ፡፡ በር ላይ ሌሎች ሰዎችም አሉ፡፡ ጥግ ላይ አቁመውኝ ስልክ ይደዋወላሉ፡፡ ደሞ በምን ይሆን የያዙኝ እያልኩ አሰብኩ፡፡ የፍርድ ቤት ትዕዛዝ ሲያሳዩኝ በእነ በፍቃዱ ኃይሉ የሚል ነገር አይቼ በዞን ዘጠኞች ጉዳይ ነው አልኩና የበለጠ ተረጋጋሁ፡፡ ትንሽ እንደቆምን መኪና መጥቶ ወደቤቴ እንድንሄድ አዘዙኝ፡፡ መኪናዋ ሳይረን እያሰማች ወደቤት ሄድን፡፡ መንግስት በዚህ ደረጃ በጠላትነት ይመለከተናል ብዬ አላሰብኩም ነበር፡፡ ከካፌው እንድወጣ ስደረግም ሆነ ከካፌው በር ላይ ቆመን ሳለ፣ እንዲሁም ወደቤት ሲወስዱኝ ማንም ቀና ብሎ የሚያይ የለም፡፡ ገረመኝ! ወይ ህይወት አልኩኝ ለራሴ፡፡

ቤት እንደደረስን ቶሎ ወደ ቤት አልገባንም፡፡ ቤቱ ሲፈተሽ ታዛቢ ያስፈልጋል ስለተባለ ታዛቢ ፍለጋ ሰው እያስቆሙ ይጠይቃሉ፡፡ ብዙ ሰው እምቢ ሲላቸው አየሁኝ፡፡ ከ30 ደቂቃዎች በላይ በር ላይ ቆመናል፡፡ ሰው በግርታ ይመለከተናል፡፡ ታዛቢ የተባሉ ሰዎች ተገኙና ወደቤት ገባን፡፡ በር ስከፍት ጀምሮ ቪዲዮ ቀረጻ ያደርጋሉ፡፡ ቤት ብቻየን ስለምኖር ብዙም ያስጨነቀኝ ጉዳይ አልነበረም፡፡ የሚደነግጥ ሰው አልነበረም፡፡ ቤት ውስጥ ያልፈተሹት ነገር የለም፤ ጋዜጣ፣ መጽሔት፣ ምኝታ ቤት፣ ሽንት ቤት አልቀራቸውም፡፡

ቤቴ ሲፈተሽ ሰዓቱ እየመሸ ነበር፤ 3፡00 አካባቢ ሆኗል፡፡ ፍተሻው እየተገባደደ እያለ አንዱ ደህንነት ‹ራት በልተሃል› ሲል ጠየቀኝ፡፡ ማክያቶየን ሳልጠጣ እንዳመጣችሁኝ ታውቅ የለ ስል መልሼ ጠየቅሁት፡፡ ከዚያ ራት ብላ፣ ከጎረቤት ይምጣልህ ማንን ነው የምትግባባው አለኝ፡፡ በመሐል ሌላኛው ደህንነት እኛም እርቦናል ከውጭ ይታዘዝ ሲል ሀሳብ አቀረበ፡፡ አይ ከጎረቤት ይምጣለት ተባለና አንዲት ህጻን ልጅ ያላት ጎረቤቴ በሳህን አመጣችልኝ፡፡ እኔም ጎረቤቴን አይዞሽ ሰላም ነው፣ ጋዜጠኛ ስለሆንኩ ነው የያዙኝ አልኳት፡፡ ከዚያ በፊት ጋዜጠኛ መሆኔን አታውቅም ነበር፡፡ ጋዜጠኛ በመሆኔ ነው ስል ደህንነቶች ‹ምን አስር ጊዜ ጋዜጠኛ ነኝ፣ ጋዜጠኛ ነኝ ትላልህ› እያሉ አንባረቁብኝ፡፡ እኔም አዎ ጋዜጠኛ ነኝ መብትና ግዴታየን አውቃለሁ፣ የያዛችሁኝም ጋዜጠኛ በመሆኔ ነው አልኳቸው፡፡

ፍተሻው ተጠናቅቆ ከቤት ልንወጣ ስንል የቤቱ በሮችና መስኮቶች መዘጋታቸውን ማረጋገጥ አለብኝ አልኳቸው፡፡ ከዚያም ‹የቤቱ ቁልፍ…› ብዬ ስናገር፣ ከአፌ ተቀብለው ቁልፉ ከማን ከማን እጅ ነው የሚገኘው አሉኝ፡፡ ደስ አለኝ፡፡ ቢያንስ መታሰሬን የሚሰማ ሰው ላገኝ ነው አልኩኝ፡፡ ከዚያም አንድ ቁልፍ ከጓደኛዬ ጽዮን (ጋዜጠኛ ጽዮን ግርማ) ጋር መኖሩን ስናገር የሚያውቋት ደህንነቶች ሰው ልከው ነገሯት፡፡ ቤታችን ቅርብ ለቅርብ ነው፡፡ ጺዮን ሁኔታውን ስታውቅ በድንጋጤ ደረጃውን በፍጥነት እየወረደች ስትመጣ ተመለከትኩኝ፡፡ ምን ልታደርጉት ነው፣ እነማን ናችሁ…እያለች አካባቢውን ቀወጠችው፡፡ ሰው ተሰባሰበ፡፡ እኔም አይዟችሁ ጋዜጠኛ ስለሆንኩ ነው የያዙኝ እያልኩ ለማረጋጋት ሞከርኩኝ፡፡

የሰውን መሰብሰብ ያልወደዱት ደህንነቶች በመኪና ወዲያውኑ ግቢውን አስለቅቀው ይዘውኝ ነጎዱ፡፡ ጉዞው ወደ ማዕከላዊ ነበር፡፡ ማዕከላዊ እንደደረስን ብዙ ሰው (ደህንነቶችና ፖሊሶች) ግቢውን ወረውታል፡፡ ሌሎች የታሰሩ ሰዎችም መኖራቸውን ጠረጠርኩ፡፡ ምክንያቱም እኔን ለመያዝ ስምንት ሰው ተመድቧል፡፡ ያ ሁሉ ሰው ደግሞ ሌሎች ሰዎችን ይዞ መጥቷል ማለት ነው፡፡ እኔ ማዕከላዊ ስደርስ በዕለቱ ከታሰሩት ሰዎች ሁሉ ዘግይቼ ማዕከላዊ የደረስኩ እኔ መሆኔ ገባኝ፡፡ ውስጥ ገብቼ ስሜ ሲመዘገብ መዝገቡ ላይ የበፍቃዱን ስም አየሁት፡፡ አሁን ጉዳዩ የበለጠ ገባኝ፣ በዞን ዘጠኞች ነው ማለት ነው አልኩኝ፡፡ የበለጠ ተረጋጋሁ፡፡ ከምዝገባ በኋላ አንድ ሰው ብቻ ወደሚገኝበት ክፍል አስገብተው ቆለፉብኝ፡፡

“They took me before I drink the macchiato I ordered.” Tesfalem Woldeyes

I had a plan to attend the Big Band music show at Yared Music School. As usual I have my laptop with me. My friends always make fun of me saying “Tesfish moves carrying his office.” I bought Time magazine around the National Theatre and went to Ambassador Cinema to catch a taxi to Arat Kilo. By the time I got to Arat Kilo I thought that I have a time for a macchiato. Then I went to a café called Mirfaq and ordered one.

I started to read the Time magazine I bought. I read only just a paragraph when I heard my name being called by three civil wearing guys. I couldn’t recognize any one of them. I asked “What do you need?” “We need you for a question?”, they answered. “Who are you? Show me your ID.”, I continued asking. I was not frightened at all. I had the feeling that imprisonment will come one day. They brought a uniformed federal police member when I asked for their id. I understood the situation when I saw his uniform.

By the time we leave the café, I didn’t drink the macchiato I ordered. They snatched the magazine I was reading, my laptop and took me out. There were other people on the gate. They took me to one corner and started making calls. “Why do they arrest me?”, I keep on thinking. When they showed me the court warrant I saw Befeqadu Hailu et.al so I feel more relieved knowing that it is a case related to Zone Niners. After a while, they ordered me to go to my house. We went to my house while the siren of the car was on.  I never thought that the government had this much enmity against us. I noticed that nobody gave attention when I was taken out of the café, when we were waiting at the gate as well as when they took me to me house. I was stunned! “Oh! Life!”, I said.

We did not get in immediately when we get to my house. They were asking people to witness the searching. I saw many people refusing to be a witness. We stayed for more than 30 minutes. People were looking at us with some confusion.  They found the so called witnesses and we get into my house. They started video recording starting from the moment I opened my door. Since I’m living by myself, I was not worried at all cause there is no one to be disturbed. They searched everything in my house; newspapers, magazines, bedroom even the toilet.

It was getting late; around 9pm, when they searched my house. When they were about to finish one of the security guys asked “have you eaten your dinner?” “Don’t you know that you brought me here before I drink my macchiato?” I replied with a question. Then he said, “Have your dinner. Let’s ask your neighbours. Who do you know more?” One of the other security guys proposed in the middle for a meal to be ordered because they are also hungry. It was finally decided to get food from my neighbours and a woman who has a little kid brought me food. I comforted my neighbour saying “come down it’s ok. They arrested me because I’m a journalist.” She didn’t know that I am a journalist. When I said because I’m a journalist; “Why are you saying I’m a journalist again and again?” the security guys shouted on me. “Yes, I’m a journalist. I know my rights and responsibilities. You arrested me because I’m a journalist”, I told them.

When we were about to leave, I told them that I have to make sure the doors and windows are closed. Then when I said “the key …”, they quickly followed who else has the key. I feel happy. At least I will get someone who knows I’m arrested. When I told them I have extra key with my friend, Journalist Tsion Girma, the security guys who know her send someone to call her. Our houses are close to each other. I saw Tsion rushing down the stairs and coming to me in shock. “Who are you? What are going to do with him?” she controlled the scene. People gathered. I tried to calm down the people saying that they arrested me because I’m a journalist.

The security guys were not comfortable with the gathering so they rushed me out of the compound. We were heading to Maekelawi. I saw lots of security guys and police at Maekelawi. I suspected that there might be more people arrested today. Given that there were eight people assigned for me I can easily guess that these people might have brought more. I realized that I was a late comer from those who were arrested that day. I saw Befeqadu’s name when my name was being registered. This was confirmation that I’m arrested with a case related to Zone Niners. I was calmer than ever. After the registration, they took me to a cell with only one person and they locked the rood at me.