Ex-President condemns media crackdown in S. West

Former President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud has condemned the arrest and repression of the media in South West state terming it ‘unfortunate’.

“It is unfortunate how journalists in Baidoa are being treated. Their only offence is that they informed the public the truth,” the former head of state said.

His remarks follow a crackdown of the media and political activities by the South West administration.

Freelance journalist Abdulkadir Barre Maalim was Wednesday night arrested on grounds that he had covered a press conference where civil society groups were protesting the move to bar former president Sheikh Sharif Ahmed from travelling to Kismayu last week.

A former Bay region deputy finance chief Hassan Maalin Isaaq and Liiban Ibrahim Amin an official of a local organisation, POSOS were also arrested in connection with the press conference.

The South West state administration subsequently issued a decree banning all political meetings in hotels and barred political parties from opening offices in Baidoa.