Mr Martin Plaut deserves an official apology on behalf of all concerned real Eritrean people and I earnestly urge all real, decent Eritreans to directly apologise to Mr Martin Plaut on behalf the Eritrean people. Please accept my apology for what happened to you in the name of concerned Eritrean people. We are deeply ashamed and those who conspired and committed the crime do not represent the real, decent and dignified Eritreans whom you have known for a very long time. We stand by you at this difficult time and will assist the authorities bring the assailants to face the full force of the law. A crime committed on one is a crime committed on everyone of us.

There is nothing wrong to disagree with what Mr Plaut propagates about the People and State of Eritrea and we all are within our rights to challenge him in a civilised manner. However, in the western world where the rule of law is a default, assaulting someone in the street is a crime of the highest degree possibly with prison time for the assailant. What happened to Mr Plaut is a politically motivated assault and such an assault on a journalist in the western world can potentially bring down a government with prison sentences for the culprits.

The assault on Mr Plaut in the streets of London is a stark reminder to us, Eritreans, to make a deep soul search. It is a very high time for us now to reset our moral compass so that nothing of this sort happens again.

Respectfully.