Tekleab Mengisteab

Extra Bio Info:

Tekleab Mengisteab is detained for his religious activity and leadership role.

In November 2004, Eritrean police authorities arrested Mengisteab, an Eritrean Orthodox priest at the Mekane Hiwet Medhane-Alem Church, for leading an evangelical reform movement within the Orthodox church. Mengisteab preached, wrote, and translated Christian materials in the local language, which the government-controlled Orthodox church prohibited. Mengisteab’s arrest came amid a sweep of crackdowns on evangelical pastors and leaders of the Medhane Alem (Savior of the World) renewal movement, following the ban of evangelical churches in 2002. Authorities confined him in Wengel Mermera Central Criminal Investigation Interrogation Center and held him incommunicado for over 20 years without charge or trial.

In February 2005, Eritrean police officers raided Mengisteab's church, temporarily arrested his 6-year-old daughter and other children during a children's Bible study, and confiscated their religious materials. Authorities forced Mengisteab's church to close and continued to harass his family members through house raids.

In late 2024, it was reported that Mengisteab was alive, though he had been hospitalized several times for health concerns. Prior to his detention, Mengisteab was a physician and diabetes specialist at the National Referral Hospital near his church.