Nairobi,
January 5, 2015 - Somali security forces arrested five journalists in two
separate cases over the weekend in the capital, Mogadishu, according to news
reports. Three of them are still being held.
On
Saturday, security forces arrested three journalists from the independent radio
station Radio Risaala and shut down the station, according to local
journalists and news reports.
The
journalists-Director Mohamed Abdiwahab Abdullahi,
Editor Mohamed Kafi Sheik Abukar,
and reporter Mohamed Abdi Ali-were arrested in connection with a report Friday
on a suspected Ebola patient living in the Lower Shabelle region of the
country, the sources said.
The Ministry of Health denied in a press briefing on Saturday that the individual
had contracted Ebola. The three journalists have not been charged, according to
local journalists.
The
station is still shuttered. Government spokesman Abdirahman Omar Osman told CPJ
the information ministry was negotiating with the security department for the
journalists' release.
"Journalists
should never be jailed for their work, which involves raising sensitive issues
of public interest," said CPJ East Africa Representative Tom Rhodes.
"We call on authorities to immediately release Mohamed Abdiwahab, Mohamed
Kafi, and Mohamed Abdi Ali."
On
Sunday, security forces arrested two journalists from the private broadcaster Radio Goobjoog who were among the first reporters to arrive
at the scene of a deadly car bomb explosion in the Waberi district of
Mogadishu, local journalists told CPJ. The insurgent Al-Shabaab group later
claimed responsibility for the attack, which killed at least five people, according
to news reports.
Mohamed
Salad Osman, head of programs at Radio Goobjoog, and reporter Ibrahim Haji
Yusuf were held overnight at the National Intelligence and Security Agency
headquarters in the capital without explanation, local journalists said. The
two were released on Monday without charge.
Government
spokesman Abdirahman told CPJ the reporters were arrested and questioned along
with a group of people who were also at the scene of the attack. Abdirahman
denied that they were held in connection to their work.
Separately,
the trial of four Shabelle Media Network journalists resumed today, news
reports said. Two of the journalists-Shabelle FM producer Mohamed
Bashir and Mohamud Mohamed, director of sister station Sky FM-have been
incarcerated for more than four months, while Shabelle media owner Abdimalik
Yusuf Mohamoud and Radio Shabelle presenter Ahmed Abdi Hassan were released on
bail in October.
The
journalists were arrested on accusations of incitement. Government spokesman
Abdirahman told CPJ in August that the arrests were
made after the Shabelle Media Network incited the public to violence and urged
clans to fight security forces. Shabelle's broadcasts came at a time when
authorities were attempting to disarm a militia in the capital, according to wire reports.
Let me tell you something, maybe
you have a hand in it, I have been the most investigated president Nigeria has
ever had. By now somebody should have come forward to say here it is.
Every government that came after me
investigated me because of that perception. Because they wanted to retrieve the
billions I stole. Unless you can tell me that you haven't been very efficient
in your investigation, that's your problem and not mine.
CPJ is an
independent, nonprofit organization that works to safeguard press freedom
worldwide.
Media contacts:
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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