The mayor of Bossasso announced that he was suspending two journalists from their work for "reporting news against the people of Puntland and the government."
(NUSOJ/IFEX) – On 11 November 2010, the National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ) strongly protested against the Puntland administration’s suspension of independent broadcast journalists in Bossasso, Bari region.
The mayor of Bossasso, Mohamud Farah Beldaje, who held a press conference on 11 November, announced that he had suspended the journalistic work of Ahmed Muse Ali and Ahmed Mohamud Mohamed, who work for Universal TV and Horn Cable TV respectively.
The mayor accused the two journalists of reporting “news against the people of Puntland and the government”, and of interviewing people who are “mentally imbalanced”, without expanding upon his allegations. Beldaje added that he informed the Puntland Ministry of Information, the police chief, the chair of the first-level court and the Puntland prosecutor of his decision.
“It is blatantly clear that this administration is trying to find a pretext to interfere with the work of journalists and to dictate what to report on,” said NUSOJ Secretary General Omar Faruk Osman. “The administration must allow journalists to do their work without any form of interference, suspension or harassment,” he added.
