[3] Martin Plaut was born in May 1950 in Cape Town, South Africa, to a furniture designer father and an artist mother.

[1] Plaut worked for two years as an associate fellow at Chatham House, leading research into Africa, afterwards remaining a member.

Plaut stated that mafia-like characteristics included Isaias controlling Eritrea "with ruthless efficiency", controlling Eritreans abroad by threats and intimidation, and Eritrea having a "covert network of illegal activities" run by close colleagues of Isaias, acting "more like a Mafia don enforcing his will than a legitimate head of state".

He stated that careful preparation and having a strong support team, as was his case at the BBC, is "essential for a successful assignment".

At a 3 February 2014 University of London conference, Plaut was shouted at and accused of taking bribes by the First Secretary of the Eritrean embassy.

On 30 November 2018, he was lured into a meeting at a café in London, splashed with a bucketful of liquid and filmed by the attacker and other Eritreans, who called Plaut a "traitor".