New York, June 28, 2005—The Committee to Protect Journalists joined five local and international press freedom and human rights groups today in writing to Somali leaders to demand the immediate release of Abdi Farah Nur, editor of Puntland’s leading independent newspaper Shacab (Voice of the People). Farah was arrested on June 19 and later transferred to a high security prison, where he is being held incommunicado, according to his colleagues.
The letter is addressed to Adde Muse Hirsi, president of Somalia’s self-declared autonomous region of Puntland; Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed, president of the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia and former leader of Puntland; and Ali Mohamed Gedi, prime minister of the transitional government. CPJ, the Somali Journalists Network, the Somali Human Rights Defenders Network, Reporters Without Borders, the International Federation of Journalists, and Arab Press Freedom Watch signed the letter.
