Police manhandled, arrested journalists covering elections protests in Mogadishu

GOOBJOOG NEWS|MOGADISHU:   At least four journalists from different media houses were assaulted by security forces and arrested last week when they were covering election-related demonstrations in Mogadishu as the country heads for elections.

Journalists from RTN, Universal and Dalsan Media who spoke to Goobjoog News recounted mistreatments by security forces when they were covering the protests in Yaqshid, Kaaran and Ex-Control Afgooye.

“We were on our way to Kaaran to when we were stopped by police. They manhandled us and took us to Abdiaziz police station where we were detained for three hours before being released,” Abukar Dayah of Dalsan TV said.

Dayah said he was in the company of his cameraman when they were detained adding that their equipment was destroyed. “We did not understand why were treated that way,” the TV journalist added.

Universal Tv reporter Mohamed Bulbul noted that together with his colleagues they were barred by police who demanded to know if they were going to cover the elections. “We were stopped by police on our way to work. A police commander demanded to know whether we were the ‘destroyers of the nation covering protests against the government’.

Two other journalists from RTN recounted their experience with the police noting some journalists had their equipment destroyed.

Somali Journalists Syndicate Secretary-General Abdalla Mumin said his organisation recorded cases on December 15 and 17 where journalists were arrested and harassed.

“On December 17, 2020, the security forces also threatened a group of journalists covering a protest rally in Soonakey area of ​​Hodan district. Two journalists were beaten with pistols and arrested at the Abdiaziz district police station. A third journalist was arrested at the Waberi district police station and his equipment was confiscated.”

He noted that the actions of the security forces amounted to a breach of media freedom.

“Not to mention, it is a serious violation of the work of journalists and the work of independent media in the country, journalists are constantly risking their lives to cover what is happening on the streets and what is happening in the cities so that the Somali people and the world know.”

The experiences of the four journalists adds to increasing volatility of operating environment fo journalists in the country as they cover the ongoing elections preparations. Local and international pressure groups have warned against deteriorating state of media freedom in the country.