In early June 2025, journalist Warsame Kaafi Abdirashiid Aadan was arrested in Somaliland’s eastern town of Erigavo for his January Facebook interviews with two women who accused an official of assaulting them while presiding over land-related appeal cases.
In May, one of the women was arrested, Warsame Kaafi reported. She was released weeks later, without charge, Warsame Kaafi subsequently told CPJ.
In June, the journalist was served with an arrest warrant and taken into custody at Erigavo Central Police Station, he later told CPJ, adding that he could not remember the exact date.
Warsame Kaafi said he was brought before a court the following day and remanded in custody for 15 days pending investigation. He was subsequently transferred to Erigavo prison.
Local journalists and community elders appealed for his release, urging the judicial official to intervene, Warsame Kaafi told CPJ.
The official said that the journalist first must publicly apologize and retract the allegations, which he said were false, Warsame Kaafi told CPJ, adding that he refused to do so.
On the eighth day of detention, the journalist was summoned to the judicial officer’s office and released without charge.
CPJ did not receive responses to April 2026 emails to the police and Office of the Attorney General requesting comment several cases of journalists detained since January 2025, including Warsame. Similar emails to the ministry of information and the presidency returned error messages, and calls to those offices were unanswered in early May 2026.