Continued detention of Radio Higsi editor ‘outrageous’- CPJ

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has called for the release of Radio Higsi journalist Mohamed Abdiwahab Nuur noting his continued detention without charges is ‘outrageous’.

CPJ said in a statement Thursday Nuur also known as Abuuja must be allowed to work freely. “It is an outrageous infringement on Mohamed Abdiwahab Nuur’s fundamental rights that nearly two months since his arrest, the government has failed to produce him in court, or to provide any information about his well-being beyond a sparse statement,” said CPJ sub-Saharan Africa representative, Muthoki Mumo.

Mumo called on Somali government to free Abuuja and stop interfering with his work as a journalist.

Abuuja was arrested on March 7 and has since remained in detention without the right to access a lawyer or his family. The Ministry of Information issued a statement last week claiming an investigations file had been forwarded to the Attorney General for the prosecution of the journalist over suspected murder. The government also linked him to the militant group Al-Shabaab.

According to a statement from CPJ, Abuuja was allegedly arrested for criticizing security personnel through his reporting.

The detention of Abuuja is just one among a number of instances the government has sought to suppress freedom of expression in Somalia. The intelligence agency NISA last week said it was seeking to prosecute VOA journalist Harun Maruf on ‘national security’ allegations.

Goobjoog Media Group journalist Abdiaziz Ahmed Gurbiye is currently out of bail after he was arrested for criticising the government over handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.