NUSOJ deplores continued Arbitrary Detention of an Independent Journalist
The National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ) is shocked and alarmed by the continued arbitrary detention of an independent journalist in Baidoa city by the security forces of Southwest regional state on Wednesday, 25 September 2019 at around 22:30, in apparent attempt to intimidate the journalist and the independent media with aim of silencing them without any legal basis.
The journalist Abdulkadir Barre Moallim – who was arrested with a humanitarian activist Liban Ibrahim Midnimo – was detained for covering a press conference by local elders who reportedly condemned the move to block former Somali President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed and his delegation of Himilo Qaran Political Party from traveling to Kismayo, Jubbaland. The news report by journalist Abdulkadir Barre Moallim were broadcasted by the local media. Abdulkadir Barre is an active member of NUSOJ’s Southwest branch and recently returned from after attending NUSOJ General Assembly.
“We consider the arbitrary arrest and the continued detention of journalist Abdulkadir Barre Moallim as an act of intimidation aimed at stopping a journalist from exposing uncomfortable truths in the Southwest State,” said Omar Faruk Osman, NUSOJ Secretary-General. “The continued detention of Abdulkadir Barre Moallim is nothing else but part of intense and sustained attacks on freedom of expression by the Southwest State”.
Recently, attacks on journalists have grown more frequent. Only last month, several journalists in Baidoa were threatened and intimidated because of the events they have reported on. Following the arrest of Abdulkadir Barre Moallim, three other journalists were questioned by security forces and they were threatened with arrests should they report on political activities that were not sanctioned by the regional administration.
NUSOJ has made several attempts, including persistent contacts with the senior officials of Southwest State, to secure the release of Abdulkadir Barre Moallim. But the union’s efforts had not borne fruits, in part because of blatant abuse of power at the highest level and total disregard of the basic rights of journalists and citizens to exercise the fundamental right to freedom of expression. Specifically, the South West State information minister, Ugas Hassan Abdi Mohamed, has failed to respond to appeals from NUSOJ, and it is widely believed that the decision to illegally arrest and detain was ordered by the Presidency of Southwest State, which makes difficult for regional ministers to intervene.