Two Ethiopians Jailed for Six and Eight Years for Alcohol Production and Sale in Somaliland

GOOBJOOG NEWS|HARGEISA: Four Ethiopians were on Thursday sentenced to between six and eight years for making and selling alcohol in Hargeisa, Somaliland.

Maroodi Jeh Regional Court declared the four guilty of the offence and condemned them to jail terms. According to the prosecution, the two were making and selling alcohol in Hargeisa while ‘begging on the streets while clad in Islamic clothes yet they were unbelievers.’

“The court of Marodi Jez region this morning sentenced 4 men who were recently arrested by the JSL police at the central station. These men were accused of making alcohol in Hargeysa city and of wearing Islamic clothes and begging while they were non-believers,” a statement from the court read in part.

The first two accused were sentenced to eight years and a fine of two million Somaliland shillings, while the other two will serve six years in jail and pay a fine of one million Somaliland shillings.

The court also ordered that the two be deported back to Ethiopia upon the completion of their jail terms.

Alcohol sales and consumption is illegal in Somaliland.