New York, January 30, 2012--The Committee to Protect Journalists is saddened by Saturday's murder of a Somali journalist and calls on authorities to investigate the killing immediately and bring those responsible to justice.
Unknown gunmen ambushed Hassan Osman Abdi, director of leading independent broadcaster Shabelle Media Network, as he was entering his home and shot him five times in the head and chest, according to local journalists. The murder occurred around 6:30 p.m. local time in the government-controlled Wadajir district of the capital Mogadishu, according to the same sources.
Information Minister Abdulkadir Hussein condemned the murder in a statement and called the Shabelle Media Network "one of the most important and pioneering media houses serving the country." He said police were investigating and would "not leave a stone unturned," according to news reports. The African Union offered to assist the government in its investigation, AU spokesman Lt. Col. Paddy Ankunda said in a statement.
Police announced the arrests of four suspects, two of whom they said matched the descriptions given by eyewitnesses to the killing. A few hours before the murder, a man claiming to be a businessman entered the station's offices and spoke to Abdi about an advertising contract, according to his colleagues. The man was allegedly overheard asking Abdi about the time and manner he gets home and requested a meeting with him, Shabelle's head of development and international relations, Ali Dahir Abdi, told CPJ. Police had not yet questioned the man or another man who was with Abdi when he was shot, according to Dahir.
Nicknamed 'Fantastic,' Abdi was the producer and presenter of three major news programs: a daily news analysis program called "Diirada," a monthly investigative magazine, and a call-in program, according to Dahir. In recent weeks, he had aired investigative reports detailing alleged corruption at Mogadishu's seaport and in the Banadir regional administration, Dahir said.
Abdi, who was in his mid thirties, is survived by a wife and three children, according to Dahir.
Abdi was the fifth Shabelle Media journalist killed in Somalia since 2007, according to CPJ research.
