The journalists were taking photographs of a house across from the presidential palace that had been painted with the flag of the opposition Kulmiye party.
(NUSOJ/IFEX) – The National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ) is deeply concerned about the deteriorating press freedom conditions in Somalia following a raid on and the detention of three journalists in Hargeysa on 2 June, 2010 around 12:00 p.m.
Three journalists working for different media stations were assaulted and detained in Hargeysa, a breakaway region of Somalia, by presidential security guards. The journalists were taking photographs of a house across from the presidential palace that was painted with the flag of the Kulmiye party. The Kulmiye party is one of the strongest opposition parties contesting the upcoming presidential election.
Mohamoud Abdi Jama, Chairman of the Waaheen Media Group, a newspaper and a radio; Mohamed Said Abdillahi, known as Xarago, the editor of http://berberanews.com/news.php ; and Mohammed Rashid Mahamoud, chief editor of “Saxafi” newspaper, were briefly held at a prison in the presidential palace and were later transferred to the central police station where they are being detained.
“I was photographing the presidential security guards arresting and beating supporters of the Kulimiye party, painting the party’s flag on a house across from the presidential palace, when I noticed a plain clothed security man pointing a pistol at me,” said Mohamed Said Abdillahi, in an interview with http://somalilandpress.com .
“We were held for an hour at the presidential palace and later they transferred us to the central jail,” Harago said in an interview with Somalilandpress.com from inside the prison.
On 27 May, 2010, Puntland security forces also attacked journalists covering the aftermath of heavy rains in the town of Bossaso, the Bari regional headquarters, in the semi-autonomous region of Puntland.
