FESOJ welcomes arrests of soldiers over torturing journalists and confiscating equipment.

Somali authorities arrested two Somali government soldiers over torturing and threatening journalists working for Aljazeera TV on Monday 4 November 2019.

Security forces arrested on Tuesday November 5 ,2019 Mohamed Abdi Iidle and Muhiyadin Abdi Mohamed of the Somali police force who were accused of abusing journalists doing for their daily normal work and confiscating their stuff.

Communication Director of Somalia’s President office Abdinur Mohamed Ahmed and Director General of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of Federal Government of Somalia Abdirahman Yusuf Al-Adaala have separately confirmed the arrests of the two soldiers who involved in the abuse of journalists, saying it is totally unacceptable to harass journalists.

FESOJ sees it as a positive step towards justice, but we demand that perpetrators be brought to justice to face an independent trial.

“We witness that most of the people who inflict violence against the journalists are not apprehended or arrested, so the action taken by the Somali security agencies to arrest the policemen behind the abuse against journalists is a welcome move, however that is not the end of the game, suspected criminals should be trailed in front of justice, not only now but in future all those who intentionally violate against media workers” Mohamed Ibrahim Moalimuu Secretary General of Federation of Somali Journalists (FESOJ) said .

In the recent times there has been an increase in arrests of journalists from Somaliland, Puntland, Hirshabelle, Mogadishu, South West to Kismayo which tends to occur systematically.

The trend of arrest and detention of journalists and other media workers seems to indicate an intention to intimidate or harass journalists and media workers which will eventually lead to self-censorship to media workers and disappearance of independent media.

Finally, FESOJ calls on all parties to respect the freedom of expression and press to end all abuses against journalists and the arbitrary arrests without due process.