Somali journo 'detained without trial'
2013-02-12 15:17
Mogadishu - A Somali journalist is being detained without charge
in Somalia for speaking out against the imprisonment of a fellow reporter, said
an international human rights group.
Daud Abdi Daud has been held without charge since 5 February
and his detention is sending a broader message to Somali journalists to stay
silent, said Human Rights Watch in a statement released on Tuesday.
According to the rights group, Daud's arrest stems from an
incident last week when a Mogadishu court handed down one-year prison sentences
to a woman who said she was raped by security forces and a reporter who
interviewed her. Daud spoke out in court saying that journalists have the right
to interview people.
After Daud reportedly added that he would even seek to
interview the president's wife, the police arrested him, the group said.
Human Rights Watch has asked Somali authorities to
immediately charge or release Daud.
"The authorities should charge or release him, but they
should not be shutting down free expression by jailing journalists and throwing
away the key," said Leslie Lefkow, deputy Africa director at Human Rights
Watch. Somali authorities declined to comment on Daud's arrest.
Dangerous country
The alleged rape victim in the case Daud attended was
charged with insulting a government body, inducing false evidence, simulating a
criminal offense and making a false accusation. Freelance journalist Abdiaziz
Abdinur was charged with insulting a government body and inducing the woman to
give false evidence. Three others charged in the case, including the woman's
husband, were acquitted on Tuesday.
All the defendants denied the charges in court.
Rights groups said the handling of the rape case is
politically motivated because the woman had accused security forces of the
assault. Rape is reported to be rampant in Mogadishu, where tens of thousands
of people who fled last year's famine live in poorly protected camps.
Government troops are often blamed.
The charges and resulting sentences may result in even fewer
victims of sexual assault coming forward to report attacks in conservative
Somalia, rights groups fear.
Somalia is one of the world's most dangerous countries in
which to practice journalism, according to the Committee to Protect
Journalists.
Last year 18 Somali journalists were killed yet no one was
arrested. So far this year one reporter has been killed making it 45 since
2007.
During the International Day to End Impunity last year the
National Union of Somali Journalists said that impunity has become a
fundamental problem in Somalia.
Journalists in almost every region of the country commonly
face harassment, blackmail, arbitrary police detention and, in addition,
criminals are hired to suppress them, said the group.
- AP
