1 Jul 2011 | Index Index, minipost
Authorities arrested Faysal Mohamed, a reporter for Hiraan Online, on Wednesday morning (29 June) in the semi-autonomous republic of Puntland in northern Somalia. Police told journalists that Mohamed was arrested for a “false news report” on Hiiraan Online. Fellow colleagues said they suspected the article in question was one published three days before the arrest, which hypothesised that two bodies recently discovered on a roadside were those of security personnel.
24 Jun 2011 | Index Index, minipost
Members of the Sufi group, Ahlu Sunna Waljama (ASWJ), shut down Radio Dhusamareb of central Somalia on Wednesday evening. Seven masked intruders forced staff to evacuate the building and the station’s editor was arrested and taken into custody. He has now been released without charge. Less than 24 hours before the attack, Al Shabaab militants silenced the Voice of Hiran radio station in the town of Beletweyne.
25 Jan 2011 | Index Index, minipost
The editor of Waheen daily newspaper has been sentenced to three years in prison on charges of defamation and spreading false news. Mohamud Abdi Jama will also have to pay a US$900 fine, the charges stem from an article in which he accused a police chief, and a director of Somaliland Electric Agency of nepotism.
21 Sep 2010 | Index Index, minipost
Two independent radio stations were attacked by Islamist militia in Mogadishu on 19 September. Radio Horn Afrik was vandalised and looted by Al-Shabaab, while Global Broadcasting Corporation (GBC) was taken over by Hizbul Islam, who are now using the station to broadcast their own propaganda. Journalists at Horn Afrik were driven from the building by armed men. Cassettes and CDs were then destroyed. According to the transitional government in Mogadishu, five radio stations in the city have now been attacked or forcibly taken over by Islamist rebels.
