'I don't even know if my parents are alive' - the war heroes jailed 25 years ago
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Tesfalem Araia and Teklemariam Bekit, BBC Tigrinya
Hanna Petros Solomon, Aster Yohannes, and Petros Solomon fought in Eritrea's war of independence.
Hanna Petros Solomon breaks down in tears as she recounts how she and her siblings effectively became orphans 25 years ago when their father was arrested in Eritrea without trial.
"He had a towel on his shoulders like a sportsman," she remembers about the last time she saw her father, aged 10. "He used to work out every morning."
Her parents met during the long liberation war that led to Eritrea gaining independence from Ethiopia in 1993. Her father, Petros Solomon, was a senior leader and considered a national hero for his crucial role.
After independence, he served as defence minister, foreign minister, and was heading the fisheries ministry when his troubles began.
In May 2001, he signed an open letter with 14 other high-profile politicians to President Isaias Afewerki, calling for implementation of a constitution ratified after independence and demanding national elections. They became known as the G-15.
Isaias, leader of the Eritrean People's Liberation Front (EPLF), did not take the criticism well. Unbeknownst to Hanna, her father was dismissed as a minister but continued his daily exercise routine.
A few days after 9/11, in the early hours of 18 September 2001, security forces surrounded the homes of 11 senior government officials in Asmara on President Isaias' orders. Petros Solomon was taken away while the family had no idea where he'd gone.
Hanna and her three siblings went to stay with their paternal grandmother as their mother, Aster Yohannes, was studying in the US at the time.
It wasn't until days later that things became clearer for Hanna. "My classmates told me that my father sold out his country," she recalls, understanding then the gravity of the situation.