Somalia

Abdimalik Yusuf and Ahmed Abdi Hassan were freed on bail on 21 October 2014. They still face charges of incitement to commit a crime and incitement to disobey the law.

Abdirisak Jama Elmi was attacked when he was leaving his house in the Howl-Wadag district of Mogadishu. Elmi was hit by three bullets on the back and stomach, and is receiving treatment at Mogadishu’s Madina hospital.

The motive behind the arrest of Ibrahim Said Salah remains unspecified, but journalists believe that some politicians in Puntland are using Kenyan contacts to arrest the journalist, due to his reports on the formation of political parties in the northeast regions of Somalia.

Fourteen journalists and other media workers were arrested after they demanded to be paid three months worth of salary and allowances from their employer, Puntland TV.

Four journalists of the Shabelle Media Network started a hunger strike on 29 September 2014 to demand their freedom and for the charges levelled against them to be dropped.

Shabelle Media Network journalists Abdimalik Yusuf, Mohamud Mohamed Dahir and Ahmed Abdi Hassan are accused of “attack on the integrity, independence or the unity of the Somali State”. It is “highest treason”, which is punishable by death, according to the penal code.

The African Freedom of Expression Exchange (AFEX) is appalled by the endorsement, by the Somali Council of Ministers, of a repressive media bill that severely restricts media operations and content.

On Monday, 1 September 2014, Somalia’s Council of Ministers narrowly passed a draft media law presented by the Minister of Information, Mustaf Sheikh Ali Dhuhulow, in an attempt to control the independent media under the guise of regulation.

The chairman of Shabelle Media Network and the director of SkyFM have been detained in the National Intelligence and Security Agency’s underground prison, a place where suspected terrorists are being kept.

On 15 August 2014, heavily armed security forces raided and shut down Radio Shabelle and SkyFM, and arrested at least eight journalists, including Shabelle chairman Abdimalik Yusuf Mohamud.

The National Union of Somali Journalists welcomes the arrest of former journalist and Al-Shabaab senior member Hassan Hanafi Haji in Nairobi, Kenya. Hanafi Haji has threatened many journalists to death and is strongly suspected to be the mastermind behind journalists’ killings.

The reason for the arrest is not officially stated, but it is widely believed that the Puntland government is annoyed by an interview that Faduma Yusuf Said gave to the Voice of America’s (VOA) Somali Service, about the recent raid on Puntland TV by some of Puntland’s security forces.

Ahmed Adan Robleh was accused of “spreading false information” with regard to the health of Somaliland President Ahmed Silanyo. Journalists believe that Mohammed Aabi was arrested over an entertainment programme broadcast by Universal TV.

Puntland’s new media law gives the Ministry of Information the power to withhold or revoke media house registration unilaterally. The ministry will also have the authority to issue and withdraw journalists’ identification cards.

The National Union of Somali Journalists is particularly concerned that, under the amended counter-terrorism legislation, media coverage of terrorist groups’ activities could be interpreted as “supporting a terrorist organisation.”

CPJ Guest Blogger Muhyadin Ahmed Roble reflects upon the recent death of his friend and colleague, Yusuf Keynan, and the grave implications of working as a journalist in Somalia.