Exactly eight years ago today Swedish journalists Martin Schibbye and Johan Persson brought the hidden war in the Ogaden to the mainstream with an adventurous venture. Martin Schibiy and Johan left the comfort of there home in Stockholm, Sweden to the volatile Horn of Africa. Upon arriving in Somalia the pair crossed into the heavily militarized Ogaden region. An area described by many to be an open air prison under the brutal reign of the occupying Ethiopian army.
The pair where investigating the infamous Africa Oil corporation. A Swedish company heavily connected to Lundin Petroleum, which was involved in Oil exploration in the region (Ogaden). Both Martin and Johan where investigating the effects Oil exploration had on such a conflict ridden region, such as the Ogaden.
Upon crossing the border with the help of a smuggler, the pair where immediately detected by Ethiopian troops. Than followed a car chase through the desert, which resulted in the smuggler abandoning them. As the the smuggler ditched the vehicle and left Martin and Johan languishing in the desert. To there surprise insurgents from the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) where waiting.
The group walked for three days, barely sleeping or eating, attempting to escape their hunters. And then, on the next day, they heard shots. The notorious Liyuu Police paramilitary force were attacking their group, which scattered. Johan was shot in the arm and Martin was shot through the shoulder. They shouted that they were journalists and as they watched the ONLF fighters disappear into the bush, they were seized by the Liyuu Police Paramilitaries.
Abdullahi Werar, the vice president of the Ogaden region and a Regime loyalist, flew down to meet them and told them that they had to participate in a film in which the Swedes were to recreate there liberation at the hands of the Liyuu Police militia or would be executed and the blame would be pinned on the rebels. Both Martin and Johan refused.
They demanded a doctor and a lawyer but none came. At one point, Martin was forced down on his knees and a gun was put to his head. He thought he was going to be executed. But the shots that were fired were into the air, not into his head. While this elaborate piece of propaganda was taking place, Abdullai Hussein, a member of the film crew, had come to the conclusion that what he was seeing was wrong. Later he would go on to escape to Kenya and then Sweden with the staged footage, which was later shown on Swedish TV but that’s a story for another time !!!
Johan and Martin spent two and a half months in an anti-terrorist prison before being transferred to the notorious Kaliti Prison in Addis Ababa. They had been charged on a number of counts of terrorism. By embedding with the ONLF Martin and Johan became, in the eyes of the Ethiopian Regime, terrorists themselves.
Kaliti was overcrowded and rife with rats and disease, with many of the inmates suffering from tuberculosis and even HIV. A few months into their ordeal, Johan and Martin were taken to court. The pair were sentenced to 11 years in prison, in what many described as a Mock trial in a Kangaroo courthouse.
Both Martin and Johan served a little over a year and half, and where released 438 days later. A horrific ordeal which was depicted in there award winning documentary and book dubbed “438 days”.
Upon returning to Sweden the pair went on to focus extensively on Ethiopia and advocate on the lack of press freedom in such a totalitarian state. Eight years later afte the dreaded encounter both man faced, the effects of Oil endeavors in such a volatile yet improvised region often gets overlooked. That’s until Martin Schibbiye and Johan Persson took the brave initiative exactly eight years ago today.
Halgan Media Editorial Staff
