Somalia / Africa

  

CPJ, Human Rights Watch, and Amnesty International express concern over Somalia’s amended media law

The Committee to Protect Journalists, Human Rights Watch, and Amnesty International today sent a joint letter to the president of the Federal Republic of Somalia, Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed, expressing concern over a restrictive amended media law and asking the president to take concrete steps to safeguard press freedom and journalist safety during upcoming elections.   The…

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Somali military court acquits radio journalist Mohamed Abdiwahab Nuur

Nairobi, August 5, 2020—In response to a Somali military court’s decision today to acquit radio journalist Mohamed Abdiwahab Nuur of charges of murder and being a member of the militant group Al-Shabaab, the Committee to Protect Journalists issued the following statement: “We are glad that the military court affirmed Mohamed Abdiwahab Nuur’s innocence of trumped-up…

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Somali court sentences editor to 6 months in prison for spreading false news

Nairobi, July 29, 2020 — In response to a Somali court sentencing Goobjoog Media Group Deputy Director Abdiaziz Ahmed Gurbiye to six months in prison on false news charges, the Committee to Protect Journalists issued the following statement: “This conviction, in a case that should never have been entertained by the courts, is not only…

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Police occupy, close 2 television stations in Somaliland

Nairobi, July 1, 2020 — Authorities in Somaliland should immediately withdraw security personnel from the studios of the privately owned Universal TV and Star TV stations, and allow the stations to reopen and the journalists return to work without interference, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On June 25, police officers ordered journalists to…

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Police officers are seen in Mogadishu, Somalia, on April 16, 2020. Somali authorities have been holding journalist Mohamed Abdiwahab Nuur incommunicado since early March. (Reuters/Feisal Omar)

Somali journalist Mohamed Abdiwahab Nuur held incommunicado since early March

Nairobi, April 30, 2020 — Somali authorities should immediately release radio journalist Mohamed Abdiwahab Nuur and allow him to work freely, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

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Men are seen in Mogadishu, Somalia, on March 18, 2020. Somali authorities recently arrested journalist Abdiaziz Ahmed Gurbiye over his COVID-19 Facebook posts. (AP/Farah Abdi Warsameh)

Somali journalist Abdiaziz Ahmed Gurbiye arrested over COVID-19 Facebook posts

Nairobi, April 16, 2020 — Somali authorities should immediately and unconditionally release journalist Abdiaziz Ahmed Gurbiye and guarantee that the media can cover and comment on the COVID-19 pandemic without facing jail time, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

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Somali freelance journalist Abdalle Ahmed Mumin. (Abdalle Ahmed Mumin)

Somali journalist Abdalle Ahmed Mumin says there is ‘nobody to trust’ for COVID-19 information

Somali freelance journalist Abdalle Ahmed Mumin has covered the news for 17 years, spending much of that time in one of the most dangerous places in the world to work as a journalist. Since CPJ started keeping records in 1992, at least 69 journalists have been killed in Somalia for their work.

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Somalia's soldiers patrol in Afgooye, some 30 km south of the Somali capital, Mogadishu, on October 19, 2016. Somali broadcast journalist Abdiwali Ali Hassan was gunned down in Afgooye on February 16, 2020. (AFP/Mohamed Abdiwahab)

Somali freelancer Abdiwali Ali Hassan killed in Lower Shabelle region

New York, February 18, 2020–Somali broadcast journalist Abdiwali Ali Hassan was shot several times near his home in the town of Afgooye, about 30 km (19 miles) outside Somalia’s capital, Mogadishu, on February 16, and died on his way to the hospital, according to three local media organizations, his colleagues, and news reports.

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A prison is seen in Hargeisa, Somaliland, on March 29, 2011. Somaliland authorities recently sentenced journalist Abdirahman Mohamed Hiddig to 21 months in prison. (AP/Katharine Houreld)

Somaliland court sentences journalist Abdirahman Mohamed Hiddig to 21 months in prison

Nairobi, January 28, 2020 — Authorities in Somaliland should immediately release journalist Abdirahman Mohamed Hiddig from prison and drop all charges against him, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

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A police officer is seen in Mogadishu, Somalia, on March 23, 2019. Somali authorities recently shut down local broadcaster City FM and briefly detained its staffers. (Reuters/Feisal Omar)

Somali authorities shut down radio station City FM, seek to question owner

Nairobi, December 23, 2019 — Somali authorities should immediately allow local broadcaster City FM to reopen and let its staffers work freely, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

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