Former Finance Minister who called Eritrea Leader ‘dictator’ dies in prison

A former Eritrean finance minister who was arrested in 2018 after calling Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki a dictator has died in prison. The Eritrean government remained silent on the death of Berhane Abrehe, who was the country’s finance minister from 2001 to 2012. The reason for his death has not been announced, but the government allowed his burial in Asmara on Aug. 22…Berhane was neither charged nor allowed family visitations, despite being in frail health, according to his Maryland-based nephew Solomon Habtom, who initially facilitated the publication of Berhane’s controversial book critical of the Eritrean government…Berhane fell out with the Isaias administration in 2012 following a disagreement on its handling of the country’s finances. In 2018, he was arrested shortly after publishing two-volume book outside the country while living in Eritrea. (VOA)