Somaliland

Nairobi, June 12, 2013--The acting attorney general in the semi-autonomous republic of Somaliland should withdraw his request to suspend the independent daily Hubaal, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. A court ruled on Tuesday that the paper had been indefinitely suspended at the request of Aden Ahmed Mouse, according to news reports.

New York, April 30, 2013--A senior administration official in Somaliland has said that police officers were the perpetrators of an April 24 attack on the owner of a media network, according to news reports. The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on authorities in the semi-autonomous republic to conduct a thorough investigation and ensure that all those responsible are brought to justice.

Two masked gunmen burst into the offices of the critical independent daily Hubaal in the capital, Hargeisa, at around 11:30 p.m. as the paper's employees were proofreading the next day's issue, according to local journalists and news reports. One assailant fired at least once at Mohamed Ahmed Jama, but missed, the reports said. Mohamed is the owner and manager of the Hubaal Media Network, which publishes Hubaal and the English daily The Independent, according to Hubaal Editor-in-Chief Hassan Hussein Abdillahi. Mohamed is also the manager of both papers.

Nairobi, October 24, 2012--Unidentified gunmen killed a journalist in the Somaliland town of Las Anod on Tuesday, the first work-related fatality CPJ has documented in the semi-autonomous republic.

Police from the semi-autonomous republic of Somaliland detained two journalists without charge on September 13, 2012, and released them four days later, according to local journalists.

A journalist in the northern breakaway republic of Somaliland was attacked by police while covering a child custody dispute in a local court on August 4, 2012, according to local journalists and news reports. 

"I'm free but I don't feel free," said Mohamed Abdi Urad, chief editor of Yool, a critical weekly published in the semi-autonomous republic of Somaliland. Mohamed had just been released on May 22 after a week in detention at Hargeisa Central Police Station. His crime? "I have no idea," he said. Mohamed had attempted to cover a deadly skirmish between civilians and a military unit over a land dispute in the eastern part of the capital, Hargeisa. "The Interior Minister just saw me walking towards the scene and ordered his men to arrest me," he said. A few days later, police released Mohamed unconditionally and without charge.

New York, April 6, 2012--Authorities in Somaliland must immediately release two journalists who have been detained without charge for days in apparent violation of regional law, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

New York, February 28, 2012--The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns last week's arrest and brutal assault of Mohamed Abdirahman, a journalist in the semi-autonomous republic of Somaliland. 

New York, January 17, 2012--The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by the deteriorating press conditions in the semi-autonomous republic of Somaliland after this weekend's detention of 21 journalists protesting a police raid on a private broadcaster.