ADVERTISEMENT
  • The Membership Club
  • #EndSARS Dashboard
  • PT Hausa
  • About Us
  • Advert Rates
  • Careers
  • Contact Us
Thursday, May 19, 2022
Premium Times Nigeria
  • Home
  • Gender
  • News
    • Headline Stories
    • Top News
    • More News
    • Foreign
  • Investigations
  • Business
    • News Reports
    • Financial Inclusion
    • Analysis and Data
    • Business Specials
    • Opinion
    • Oil/Gas Reports
      • FAAC Reports
      • Revenue
  • Opinion
  • Health
    • COVID-19
    • News Reports
    • Special Reports and Investigations
    • Data and Infographics
    • Health Specials
    • Features and Interviews
    • Multimedia
    • Events
    • Primary Health Tracker
  • Agriculture
    • News Report
    • Special Reports/Investigations
    • Data and Infographics
    • Features and Interviews
    • Multimedia
  • Arts/Life
    • Arts/Books
    • Kannywood
    • Lifestyle
    • Music
    • Nollywood
    • Travel
  • Sports
    • Football
    • More Sports News
    • Sports Features
  • Projects
    • #EndSARS Dashboard
    • Parliament Watch
    • Panama Papers
    • Paradise Papers
    • AGAHRIN
  • #PandoraPapers
  • AUN-PT Data Hub
  • Home
  • Gender
  • News
    • Headline Stories
    • Top News
    • More News
    • Foreign
  • Investigations
  • Business
    • News Reports
    • Financial Inclusion
    • Analysis and Data
    • Business Specials
    • Opinion
    • Oil/Gas Reports
      • FAAC Reports
      • Revenue
  • Opinion
  • Health
    • COVID-19
    • News Reports
    • Special Reports and Investigations
    • Data and Infographics
    • Health Specials
    • Features and Interviews
    • Multimedia
    • Events
    • Primary Health Tracker
  • Agriculture
    • News Report
    • Special Reports/Investigations
    • Data and Infographics
    • Features and Interviews
    • Multimedia
  • Arts/Life
    • Arts/Books
    • Kannywood
    • Lifestyle
    • Music
    • Nollywood
    • Travel
  • Sports
    • Football
    • More Sports News
    • Sports Features
  • Projects
    • #EndSARS Dashboard
    • Parliament Watch
    • Panama Papers
    • Paradise Papers
    • AGAHRIN
  • #PandoraPapers
  • AUN-PT Data Hub
Premium Times Nigeria
BUA Group Ad BUA Group Ad BUA Group Ad
ADVERTISEMENT
The seven Hiiraan Weyn journalists in detention at the police station after a raid on their radio station. (Credit: Federation of Somali Journalists)

The seven Hiiraan Weyn journalists in detention at the police station after a raid on their radio station. (Credit: Federation of Somali Journalists)

Seven Somali journalists detained, radio station raided after interview with opposition group

The raid followed the broadcasting of an interview with the Hiiraan People’s Liberation Front in Beledweyne, a group opposed to the current leadership in Hirshabelle.

byCPJ
January 29, 2022
4 min read

Authorities in Somalia’s south-central Hirshabelle state must stop intimidating and censoring the press through arbitrary arrests and station closures because they disagree with reported content, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Friday.

On Friday afternoon, January 21, 2022, heavily armed Hirshabelle police in the regional capital of Beledweyne raided local independent radio station Hiiraan Weyn while it was on air, according to the station’s editor-in-chief Yasiin Ali Ahmed, who spoke to CPJ via messaging app, a joint statement by the Somali Journalists Syndicate (SJS) and Somali Media Association (SOMA), and a statement by the Federation of Somali Journalists (FESOJ). During the raid, officers forced the station off the air and detained seven journalists for six hours, according to those sources.

The raid followed the broadcasting of an interview with the Hiiraan People’s Liberation Front in Beledweyne, a group opposed to the current leadership in Hirshabelle, less than two hours earlier, according to the statement and Yasiin, who added that police used their weapons to break down a door to get into the station.

“The outrageous detention of the seven Hiiraan Weyn journalists and the temporary shutdown of the radio station shows a complete disregard for the right of journalists to work freely and without fear in Somalia,” said Angela Quintal, CPJ’s Africa program coordinator, in New York. “Threatening journalists with death in a country that has a culture of impunity for the murder of journalists sends a chilling message. Those responsible, no matter how senior, must be held accountable and their behavior must not be condoned.”

With 25 murders in the past decade still unsolved, Somalia tops CPJ’s annual Global Impunity Index as the country with the world’s worst record for bringing killers of journalists to justice.

The seven detained journalists – Yasiin, Abdullahi Ali Abukar, Mohamed Ibrahim Ahmed, Mohamed Osman Mohamud, Abdisamad Elmi Abdi, Abdimajid Dahir, and Mustaf Ali Addow – were taken to the Beledweyne Police Station, where they were held for six hours and told by police that they were “terrorists” who would be shot and killed for reporting on the Hiiraan People’s Liberation Front, according to the joint statement and Yasiin.

The seven Hiiraan Weyn journalists sit on a police vehicle after a raid on their radio station on January 21, 2022. (Credit: Somali Journalists Syndicate)

“We were detained without access to a lawyer or anyone,” Yasiin told CPJ. “We were told that if we were arrested again, we would be killed, but we will continue to do our work until we get justice or die.”

The journalists were eventually freed without charge after widespread calls for their release by citizens and journalists’ groups. None of the journalists were hurt and no equipment was seized during the raid, Yasiin told CPJ.

Later the same day, the journalists were taken to a house where Hirshabelle Deputy President Yusuf Ahmed Hagar, Hirshabelle Police Chief Colonel Hassan Dhi’isow, and Somali National Army Commander Colonel Mohamud Hassan Ibrahim were present, according to Yasiin and the SJS and SOMA statement.

“They threatened us with consequences if we continued to report anything critical of the Hirshabelle authorities,” Yasiin said. “We were told we would be killed next time if we were arrested again.”

1X Bet AD

The following day, on Saturday, January 22, 2022, Hiiraan Weyn returned on air.

FESOJ secretary-general Farah Omar Nur expressed concern in a news report about the continued clampdown on press freedom in Beledweyne, despite the training of police officers by media groups designed to support freedom of expression, according to the SJS and SOMA statement.

“SJS and SOMA are also concerned that police officers who committed these blatant violations and their commanders were trained and equipped with contribution funds provided by the British and German governments through a Joint Police Program with little or no accountability mechanism,” Abdalle Ahmed Mumin, SJS’s secretary general is quoted as saying in the joint statement, adding that protecting human rights includes protecting freedom of expression.


READ ALSO: Murder of over 200 journalists remain unsolved – Report


The British embassy in Mogadishu confirmed UK support for the Joint Police Program (JPP) in an emailed response to CPJ’s request for comment, saying that freedom of speech and a free press are crucial pieces of an inclusive political process.

“We have asked the JPP Secretariat to investigate these allegations,” Claire Blythe-Tinker, the second political secretary at the British Embassy told CPJ by email. “We await the outcome of this process and will also be in contact with the relevant authorities in Hirshabelle. However, as we have done in the past, we stand ready to suspend our support depending on the outcome of the investigation.”

The German Embassy said it is aware of the alleged incident at Hiiraan Weyn and is taking it very seriously, Judith Gosmann, the policy officer of the Somalia Unit told CPJ in an email, adding that, “Germany firmly reiterates its commitment to international human rights standards, particularly freedom of press and expression, and will deliver the (JPP) program in a manner that enhances these objectives and does not undermine them.”

Beledweyne Police Commissioner Mohamed Mohamud did not respond to several phone calls and messages sent by CPJ via WhatsApp. There was also no response to CPJ’s emails and phone messages to the offices of Yusuf and Mohamud.

  • WhatsApp
  • Tweet
  • Email
  • Print
  • Telegram
  • More
  • Share on Tumblr
  • Pocket

CITIZEN-FM AD


Support PREMIUM TIMES' journalism of integrity and credibility

Good journalism costs a lot of money. Yet only good journalism can ensure the possibility of a good society, an accountable democracy, and a transparent government.

For continued free access to the best investigative journalism in the country we ask you to consider making a modest support to this noble endeavour.

By contributing to PREMIUM TIMES, you are helping to sustain a journalism of relevance and ensuring it remains free and available to all.

Donate



TEXT AD: To place an advert here . Call Willie - +2348098788999


JOIN THE CONVERSATION

  • Disqus (1)
premiumtimes





PT Mag Campaign AD

Previous Post

Oyo senator loses wife

Next Post

N544m Grass-cutting Fraud: Court rejects EFCC exhibits against ex-SGF

CPJ

CPJ

More News

UJU KEN-OHANENYE

‘I’ll take Nigeria as my child’ – APC female presidential aspirant

May 19, 2022
Pictures from Trade More estate, Lugbe.

Flooding: FCDA demolishes 17 houses at Abuja Estate

May 19, 2022
Nigeria Police officers on duty

Police engage kidnappers in shootout in Adamawa, kill three

May 19, 2022
Governor Bello Matawalle of Zamfara state. [PHOTO CREDIT: @officialdrbellomatawalle]

Group accuses Zamfara governor of allocating elective seats to cronies ahead of APC primaries

May 19, 2022
Supreme Court of Nigeria

Supreme Court joins Rivers govt in Buhari, Malami’s suit against section of Electoral Act

May 19, 2022
TotalEnergies

TotalEnergies launches sale of stake in Nigerian joint venture

May 19, 2022
Next Post
PRESIDENT BUHARI SACKS SGF BABACHIR LAWAL

N544m Grass-cutting Fraud: Court rejects EFCC exhibits against ex-SGF

Minister of State for Health, Adeleke Mamorah

Nigeria to get revised guidelines to tackle NTDs

Read All Comment

Search

AUN-PT Ad





Transport-Technology


Stanbic Ad


Access Bank Ad





Glo Ad


Subscribe to News via Email

Enter your email address and receive notifications of news by email.

Join 1,841,522 other subscribers.

Advertisement






netherland biz school Advert



Zenith Advert

ADVERTISEMENT

Our Digital Network

  • PT Hausa
  • Election Centre
  • Human Trafficking Investigation
  • Centre for Investigative Journalism
  • National Conference
  • Press Attack Tracker
  • PT Academy
  • Dubawa
  • LeaksNG
  • Campus Reporter

Resources

  • Oil & Gas Facts
  • List of Universities in Nigeria
  • LIST: Federal Unity Colleges in Nigeria
  • NYSC Orientation Camps in Nigeria
  • Nigeria’s Federal/States’ Budgets since 2005
  • Malabu Scandal Thread
  • World Cup 2018
  • Panama Papers Game
  • Our Digital Network
  • About Us
  • Resources
  • Projects
  • Data & Infographics
  • DONATE

All content is Copyrighted © 2020 The Premium Times, Nigeria

No Result
View All Result
  • #PandoraPapers
  • Gender
  • News
    • Headline Stories
    • Top News
    • More News
    • Foreign
  • Investigations
  • Business
    • News Reports
    • Financial Inclusion
    • Analysis and Data
    • Business Specials
    • Opinion
    • Oil/Gas Reports
      • FAAC Reports
      • Revenue
  • Health
    • COVID-19
    • News Reports
    • Investigations
    • Data and Infographics
    • Health Specials
    • Features
    • Events
    • Primary Health Tracker
  • Agriculture
    • News Report
    • Research & Innovation
    • Data & Infographics
    • Special Reports/Investigations
    • Investigations
    • Interviews
    • Multimedia
  • Arts/Life
    • Arts/Books
    • Kannywood
    • Lifestyle
    • Music
    • Nollywood
    • Travel
  • Sports
    • Football
    • More Sports News
    • Sports Features
  • #EndSARS Dashboard
  • Projects
    • Panama Papers
    • Paradise Papers
    • Parliament Watch
    • AGAHRIN
  • AUN-PT Data Hub
  • Opinion
  • The Membership Club
  • Dubawa
  • DONATE

All content is Copyrighted © 2020 The Premium Times, Nigeria

Our website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.
loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.