Mereja.Forum

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Miriam Hagos was born in Ethiopia. She started work after completing Commercial School in Addis Ababa. She left for Sweden in the beginning of the 70s and then traveled to the USA in 1973. There, she became a prominent member of Associations of Eritrean Students in North America.

In the summer of 1977, she joined the armed liberation struggle in Eritrea and after military training began work with the news department.

Miriam was the type of person who speaks her mind. She would criticize openly and suggest changes. It was difficult for her to interact or deal with a culture that did not encourage openness. Soon, she was put under surveillance and, like many others, suffered a great deal for harboring petty bourgeois tendencies.

Between the years 1979 and 1981, she was put in prison for two years. She suffered kidney problems and had difficulties with her eye-sight. Having served her sentence, she was asked (by one of the superiors) how she found her revolutionary training. She replied back by saying that she was in prison and not, as he intended her to feel, in training. He said that she has not learned a lesson yet, and he returned her to prison for some more months.

When she was released and asked the same old question, she replied back by saying, “I was in training.”

Such methods of punishment are still used to this day. Just asking reasons for their imprisonment, anyone can suffer with heavy consequence.

Eritrea has reached a point where is absolutely no respect for rights of a person. You cannot ask questions, you cannot fight for your right and all you can do is do as you are told. Miriam had to go through such brutality so many times. After working for a short period at the transport department, she was transferred to social affairs department. She was given imprisoned for more time and for the same old excuses. She was then released and moved to the news department.

There she met and married Zerai Haile, a fellow fighter who also joined the movement from North America. In 1985, she had a daughter and called her Deborah. She raised her daughter under difficult conditions. After the independence of Eritrea, she worked as the Head for cinema management.

On the 26th of September 2001, three Eritrean ex-ambassadors who resigned from their posts by criticizing their government organized a meeting in New York (the USA). They were: Haile Menkorios, Hebret Berhe and Adhanom Ghebremariam. Zerai Haile, Miriam’s husband was living in the United States since 1996, and It is reported that he was one of those people who disrupted the meeting, and verbally abused the three ex-ambassadors. He was in support of the PFDJ. Not only that, but in 2001, Zerai Haile wanted to disassociate himself from his wife and the mother of his child due to Miriam¡¦s firm stand on the current Eritrean affairs, and he divorced her through his power of attorney.

When Miriam heard what had happened and what her ex-husband did at the meeting in New York, she expressed her displeasure and her disappointment over the phone. Those who know them say that Zerai was furious and angry at Miriam and he was heard saying that ¡§she would face the consequences¡¨. What was contained within their private lives came out in the open. People who know say that Miriam was reported by her ex-husband and was put in prison on 6th of October 2001, because she showed (however indirectly) her support for those who asked for change.