(RSF/IFEX) – RSF has called for the release of two radio journalists, Abdurahman Mohamed Hudeyfi and Hussein Mohamed Gheedi, who have been held by the Mogadishu police since 30 June 2003. The journalists’ families said they were detained on the night of 30 June and taken to a detention centre in the capital. According to […]
(RSF/IFEX) – RSF has called for the release of two radio journalists, Abdurahman Mohamed Hudeyfi and Hussein Mohamed Gheedi, who have been held by the Mogadishu police since 30 June 2003.
The journalists’ families said they were detained on the night of 30 June and taken to a detention centre in the capital. According to RSF’s information, they have not been charged, but their employer, Ali Dhagweyn, the director of Banadir Radio, a privately-owned station, said they were arrested “for exercising their right to inform the public, as guaranteed by Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.”
RSF called on the president of the transitional national government, Abdulkasim Salat Hassan, to explain the arrests and release the two journalists if they are being held simply for doing their job. Stressing that the news media have a key role to play in Somalia’s reconstruction, the organisation warned that the transitional government acts against its own aims when it arrests journalists and violates press freedom.
Banadir Radio recently carried several reports about embezzlement within the Mogadishu municipal government. The station also implicated influential businessmen in illegal land purchases.
The news media and journalists are regularly targeted in Somalia by the authorities and warlords who control parts of the country. Several privately-owned newspapers, radio and television stations operate in Mogadishu.
