Somalia

An appeals court upheld the conviction of a journalist who interviewed a woman alleging rape by government forces, but reduced his sentence to six months. The woman was found not guilty.

Somalia’s Ministry of Information has opened the 2007 media law for consultation. The law, according to some stakeholders, fails to preserve freedom of expression.

Daud Abdi Daud was arrested after saying that journalists have the right to interview people, and that he would even seek to interview the president’s wife.

Abdiasis Abdinur Ibrahim, a freelance journalist, was sentenced to one year in prison for spreading “false news,” after he interviewed an alleged rape victim. The alleged rape victim has also been sentenced to one year in prison.

Authorities have charged journalist Abdiaziz Abdinur Ibrahim with insulting a government body, after he interviewed a woman who said she was raped by security forces. The woman has been charged with insulting a government body, along with simulating a criminal offense and making a false accusation.

Shabelle Media Network radio and TV presenter Abdihared Osman Adan was fatally shot three times by unidentified gunmen in Mogadishu. Three of the media network’s journalists were murdered in 2012.

A Somali freelance journalist has been detained without charge since 10 January after interviewing a woman who says she was raped by state security forces in a camp for internally displaced persons.

Editor Mohamud Abdi Jama has been accused of reporting on an unsubstantiated allegation regarding human rights violations in Somaliland.

Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud has said a task force will be set up to investigate all cases involving the killing of journalists.

Security forces arrested Ibrahim Mohamed Adan on November 21 and accused him of falsely reporting that a Somali military court had ordered a soldier’s execution, according to local journalists.

Untamed impunity has had a great bearing on media practitioners in Somalia, according to a report released on the eve of the International Day to End Impunity.

Somali journalists are working in extreme conflict zones with risks that include small arms and explosives attacks, as well as the ever-increasing possibility of murder or abduction.

Renowned Somali poet Warsame Shire Awale was shot several times by unidentified gunmen near his home in Mogadishu’s Waberi district.

Ahmed Farah Ilyas, a correspondent for the London-based Universal TV, was killed while walking home from work, according to local journalists and news reports.

Somali radio journalist Mohamed Mohamud Turyare was shot four times in the chest and abdomen by two gunmen as he left a Mogadishu mosque.

Over 40 IFEX members worldwide call for the new President of Somalia to help combat impunity in the killing of journalists, revise media laws and uphold UN and African resolutions to help protect journalists.