Nairobi,
November 4, 2014 – Authorities in the semi-autonomous republic of Somaliland
arrested two journalists from privately owned television stations last week
after they each aired coverage of a protest in the northwest town of Gabiley,
local journalists told CPJ.
Authorities arrested Horn Cable TV reporter Mukhtar Nouh Ibrahim on October 30
and SomSat TV reporter Mohamed Hassan Sheikh Mohamoud the
following day, news reports said.
Police
arrested Mukhtar and Mohamed for covering a protest on
October 30where locals burnt the flag of the ruling Somaliland party Kulmiye, according to local journalists, including
colleagues of Mukhtar. Residents had organized a small rally against what they
say is a lack of services and unfilled campaign promises, which took place
during a Kulmiye party conference, according to news reports.
Regional
Governor Mustafa Abdi Issa said authorities detained the journalists for their
own protection following threats from Kulmiye officials after the journalists
filed "libelous reports," according to news reports. He denied in a statement that any protest had
taken place.
In
court on November 2 Gabiley Regional Prosecutor Yusuf Bihi charged the two
journalists with defamation, false accusation, and defacing a flag, according
to local journalists and Guleid Ahmed Jama, defense lawyer and chairman of the
Hargeisa-based Somaliland Human Right Center.
The court case was adjourned
until November 9, Guleid told CPJ. The journalists, who were originally held at
Gabiley Police Station, were transferred to Gabiley Prisonwhere they will
remain until the hearing, local journalists said.
"The
Somaliland government evidently thinks that locking away journalists who report
on a public protest will make that protest disappear from history," said
CPJ East Africa Representative Tom Rhodes. "We urge authorities to drop all
charges against Mukhtar Nouh Ibrahim and Mohamed Hassan Sheikh Mohamoud and
stop trying to intimidate independent journalists into silence."
Local
journalists told CPJ the press has come under pressure from authorities in the
lead up to elections in Somaliland scheduled for June 2015. Police in Berbera
detained a reporter on Monday with the privately owned Somali Channel TV who
was covering a dispute between two livestock dealers, local journalists told
CPJ.
Authorities claimed his report could incur public incitement.Mohamed
Abdillahi, who also owns the news website Berbera Today, was held at Berbera Police Station for
approximately three hours before being released without charge, the same
sources said.
Since
December 2013, Somaliland authorities have shuttered four independent
newspapers and banned one privately owned television station, according to CPJ
research.
On December 13, police
raided and closed indefinitely the daily Hubaal and its sister English-language
publication, The Independent, citing a court order that claimed the
publication promoted insecurity in the nation. The court did not allow for an
appeal process, according to local journalists.
In February, authorities banned indefinitely the privately owned
U.K.-based broadcaster Universal TV from airing in Somaliland after it
broadcasta comedy program that ridiculed President Ahmed Mohamed Silanyo, according
to local journalists and reports.
In April, police raided the offices of the Haatuf Media
Network and indefinitely suspended Haatuf and
the Somaliland Times,
according to news reports and local journalists. Court
authorities did not give the outlets a way to appeal the suspensions, the same
sources said. All four newspapers remain out of print, although their websites
are still active.
Source: www.cpj.org
CPJ is an
independent, nonprofit organization that works to safeguard press freedom
worldwide.
Contact:
Sue Valentine
Africa Program
Coordinator
Peter Nkanga
West Africa
Representative
Email: pnkanga@cpj.org
Tom Rhodes
East Africa
Representative
Email: trhodes@cpj.org
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