Though sentenced to a two years jail term at the time, the TPLF, now in eternal crisis after expelling the more dynamic elements of its leadership, has recently admitted that the story was indeed accurate. The people responsible for his persecution and subsequent imprisonment, however, still remain at large. Though no attempts have been made to reopen his case and overturn his conviction to date, I am confident that it is only a matter of time. Those of us still alive will see to it that truth shall prevail in the end.

To those of us who knew Tefera, we will always remember his humanity, forever embedded in his unforgettable laughter. Ethiopia is a nation whose citizens have somehow been robbed of their laughter. The smile is always there, but rarely is it that that you find an Ethiopian that laughs from the soul these days. Perhaps, it is the treachery of the TPLF, who went to bed with the EPLF that bites our soul, or , maybe, the specter of the never ending famine is the real culprit. But the eye that shines with the genuine laughter is no more with the most of us, save a handful like Tefera Asmare. We need people to remind us of our potential for real happiness, despite the hardship we are facing as a people and a nation. We lost one such person in Tefera.

Furthermore, history will always remember him for the pioneer that he was. His enemies, those in Holland and Ethiopia, will never be able to take away that from him. And in that lies their ultimate defeat.

May God rest his soul in peace.