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‘publishing false news’, crimes punishable by a 12-month imprisonment
and fine. However, on 21 August it was reported that the Attorney
General and Justice Minister had discontinued the criminal proceedings
on the basis that the newspaper had complied with the conditions stated
by the prosecutors. The Standard Times published a retraction in five
editions, and Neville read the retraction in court.
SOMALIA
Brief detention
*Abdiqani Hassan FARAH and Mohamed SHAKALE: contributor to
the newspaper Jamhuuriya and online freelance journalist respectively,
were arrested separately in Las-Anod, Sool region, on 26 November
2007, and held for three days. They were released on 29 November.
Some reports attribute their arrest to their coverage on the armed
conflicts between Puntland and Somaliland in the northeast of Somalia.
The official reason for their arrest remains unknown.
*Abshir Nur FARAH (Ba’adle): poet, was arrested on 19 October 2007,
when police officers raided his home in the southern area of Mogadishu.
He was held for nine days at the detention facility of the Somali police’s
Criminal Investigation Department. The Mogadishu Mayor’s official
spokesman stated that the arrest was part of a security operation, linked
to the poet’s alleged support of the Union of Islamic Courts (UIC). Farah
was released on 28 October 2007.
*Abdirahman Mohammed HABANE: of the daily newspaper
Jamhuuriya, based in Hargeisa, was detained for five days due to a
controversial 5 July 2007 article about the swearing-in of a traditional
leader. Arrested by criminal investigation police in Borame in Awdal
region on 12 July, Habane was held at a police station and then a detention
centre before being released on 19 July. His release came following
the intervention of the Somaliland Journalists Association (SOLJA), the
management of the newspaper and local human rights activists, who
went to talk with the elder concerned. Jamhuuriya and its staff, the editor
in particular, have undergone frequent harassment at the hands of the
Somaliland government in recent years.
*Mohamed Hussein JIMALE (Jimaale): correspondent for the news
website Puntlandpost.com (http://www.puntlandpost.com) was detained
for four days in September 2007. He was arrested at Mogadishu’s
Bakaaraha market on 12 September 2007, as the police were rounding up
hundreds of people suspected of committing acts of insurgency around.
The marker had become the centre of clashes between government troops
and militias and it is understood that Jimale was reporting on the operation.
Most of the other detainees were released after being interrogated.
However, once police discovered that Jimale was a journalist, he was
transferred from the Hawlwadag police station to a prison. He was eventually
released on 16 September. He had undergone long hours of interrogation
but had otherwise been well treated. No explanation was given for
his detention. [RAN 35/07 – 20 September 2007]
Brief detention – harassment
*Abdullahi Mohamed HASSAN (‘Black’): editor in chief of the newspaper
Ayamaaha Daily, based in Mogadishu, was detained by armed
members of the National Security Agency at the newspaper’s office on
20 October 2007. He was released after 12 hours in poor prison conditions.
The reason for his arrest remains unknown. Following his release,
Hassan continued with his work away from the newspaper offices for a
few days. When he returned to the office on 24 October, he feared plain
clothes policemen were chasing him, and temporarily went into hiding.
Prior to his detention, Hassan had been contacted by a security officer of
the Transitional Federal Government, called several times by the police,
and had received anonymous phone calls with complaints about the news
published in the newspaper. Hassan is a member of Somali-Speaking
PEN Centre (Mogadishu branch).
Death threat/ Attacked
*Abdi Farah NUR: editor of the independent newspaper Shacab, based
in the semi-autonomous region of Puntland, was reportedly threatened by
two armed security agents at the paper’s office in Garowe on 28 June
2007. The agents said Nur would be ‘gone’ if he were behind the arrest
of an individual suspected to have been responsible for a bomb attack on
the newspaper’s headquarters the previous day. The suspect, a former
Shacab reporter, had been arrested after being identified by eye
witnesses, but was then forcibly removed from prison by agents believed
to be working for the region’s government. Shacab is known for its critical
reporting and has been a target of official harassment in the past.
New information: Shacab has reportedly closed as a result of the threats
and attacks.
Attacked
*Abdulasis Saleban AHMED: freelance journalist working for a number
of online Somali news publications, was assaulted and seriously injured
by unidentified assailants in Las-Anod, Sool region, on 4 September
2007. Ahmed was beaten around the head with heavy sticks until he fell
unconscious and later required medical treatment. The motive of the
attack was not known but according to local sources, the journalist was
targeted due to his investigative and critical reporting on Sool region,
which is controlled by Puntland but is subject to territorial dispute by the
self-declared independent state of Somaliland.
On trial
*Ahmed Aadan DHERE (Dheere): correspondent for the privately
owned daily newspaper Haatuf, based in Hargeisa, capital of the breakaway
state of Somaliland, was arrested in Barbera on the evening of 27
September 2007. Six police men arrived at Dhere’s home in a pick-up
truck and, without a warrant, took him by force to their headquarters. The
reasons for his arrest are not clear. Some sources suggest that it was
linked to a 24 September article critical of the Vice President and the
central government’s handling of the local authority in Barbera; however,
the article was not written by Dhere but by a local councillor. According
to the BBC Somali Service, the journalist was arrested together with a
secondary school teacher, as the alleged key organisers of an anti-government
demonstration that had taken place in Barbera some days before.
On 30 September, Dhere was charged with ‘disseminating reports liable
to disturb public order’ and ‘publicly inciting civil disobedience’ and
released on bail. He reportedly faces up to five years in prison.
SOUTH AFRICA
Attacked
*Abel MUTSAKANI: editor of the South African-based Zimbabwean
news website ZimOnline ( http://www.zimonline.co.za/ ), was shot by
three unidentified men near his home in Johannesburg on 23 July 2007,
in an apparent assassination attempt. He required hospitalisation for
serious wounds to his lungs and chest. It is believed that the attack is
likely to have been linked to his critical reporting on the Zimbabwean
government rather than an attempted robbery, as none of the editor’s