Somalia's National Intelligence and Security
Agency raided the Shabelle Media Network offices on April 3, arrested staff and
shuttered the privately ownedstations Radio Shabelle and Sky FM, according to local
journalists.
The raid came after
the network aired a clip of the militant group Al-Shabab claiming
responsibility for the attack on a university in Kenya, a Security Ministry
spokesman said.
On Friday evening, security
agents arrested 20 journalists and confiscated equipment from the Shabelle Media Network offices in the capital, Mogadishu,
local journalists and news reports said. Security agents released all but two of
the journalists without charge around midnight the same day, the same sources
told CPJ.
Security agents held Radio Shabelle Director Mohamed Muse and Editor
Ahmed Abdi Hassan at the National Intelligence detention center, local
journalists, including one connected to the Shabelle Network, said. Neither
Muse nor Hassan have been charged, local journalists and reports said.
A report from Shabelle Media Network's website said vital
broadcasting equipment was taken by agents, and no reason for the raid was
given. The stations had only recently resumed broadcasting after being raided
by authorities in August 2014, local journalists said.
The raid occurred after the
media network aired an audio clip of Sheikh Ali Dheere, spokesman for the
militant group Al-Shabab, claiming responsibility for the attack on Garissa,
northern Kenya, Somalia's security ministry spokesman Mohamed Yusuf told CPJ.
The station aired the clip despite a verbal directive from the security agency
on September 1, 2014 that banned media houses from airing live video and audio
clips of the Al-Shabab insurgents, he added.
Five Al-Shabab gunmen killed an
estimated 148 people on April 2, in a pre-dawn attack on Garissa University
College in northeastern Kenya; nearly all the casualties were students,
according to news reports.
"Somali authorities are
repeatedly harassing and censoring these two stations," said CPJ East
Africa Representative Tom Rhodes. "The authorities should release both
journalists immediately, return the station's equipment, and allow Shabelle
back on air."
The media network had
only re-commenced broadcasting in mid-March after authorities raided its
offices in August last year and arrested three journalists for airing programs which they
claimed incited the public to violence by encouraging clans to fight security
forces, government spokesman Abdirahman Omar told CPJ.
On September 6, security
agents also arrested Shabelle Media Network Producer Mohamed Bashir Hashi near
his home in Mogadishu, local journalists said. A court released two of the
journalists in October and two in March, and sentenced them with heavy fines,
according to CPJ research.
CPJ is an independent,
nonprofit organization that works to safeguard press freedom worldwide.
Media
contacts:
Sue
Valentine
Africa
Program Coordinator
Kerry Paterson
Africa
Research Associate
Email:
kpaterson@cpj.org
Peter
Nkanga
West
Africa Representative
Email:
pnkanga@cpj.org
Tom
Rhodes
East
Africa Representative
Email:
trhodes@cpj.org
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