It was when the phone rang that things got sticky in Gode

By David Blair

Telegraph.co.uk,

With blazing eyes, the intelligence officer slammed a wooden ruler on his desk. “You made a telephone call,” raged the man I knew as Jamal. “You are going straight to prison.”

In few other countries would a phone call arouse such strength of feeling. But during my three days under armed guard in Ethiopia last week, I discovered the true meaning of “walking on eggshells”. Whenever I was brought before Jamal or another official, I felt as if one careless gesture or ill-chosen word could land me in prison.