Somaliland jails Astan TV CEO for five years

Astan TV CEO Abdimanan Yusuf has been sentenced to five years in jail by a Regional Court in Somaliland.

Maroodi-Jeh Regional court ordered Yusuf serve five years behind bars Wednesday. The cable tv manager has been in detention since mid July following several delays of the court hearing.

The regional court also fined Yusuf two billion Somaliland shillings and ordered closure of the TV company which ventured into the breakaway region in 2018.

The reasons behind Yusuf’s arrest and sentencing remain unclear amid increasing clampdown of journalists by the Muse Bihi administration