Not A Supreme Court But A Supreme Farce

EDITORIAL

Another ugly chapter of the Haatuf saga opened on Feb.27 when Somaliland’s Supreme Court handed down a ruling against Haatuf newspaper and in favor of the government. The most important point in the court’s decision was that Haatuf would be tried using Somalia’s Penal Code rather than Somaliland’s Press Law. The court actually went even further and said the Press Law lacked “legal basis and knowledge” (Inaanu xeerka saxaafaddu ka iman asal sharci oo la raaco, aqoon cilmi ahna ku dhisnayn). The court did not explain why the Penal Code of a country that Somaliland has separated from should be used for trying Somaliland’s journalists rather than Somaliland’s own Press Law which was passed by Somaliland’s parliament and signed by Somaliland’s president. The closest thing to an explanation was the court’s claim that the Penal Code or criminal law trumps civil law (Waxa la ogyahay in xeerka ciqaabtu mudnaanta ka leeyahay xeerarka Madaniga ah). But the court’s explanation does not hold under scrutiny because it did not answer the question that the court was supposed to answer, namely, whether Somaliland’s Press Law or Somalia’s Penal Code was the appropriate and relevant law for trying this specific case. Instead of answering this question, the court did a mental somersault and redefined the issue in the general terms of “mudnaan” or priority, then concluded that the Penal Code gets priority.

Even when it comes to defining the issue in terms of priority, the court chose the sort of priority that would help it reach the conclusion it wanted to reach. For instance, if it would have looked at the question of priority in terms of whether Somaliland’s laws or Somalia’s laws should get priority in Somaliland, it would have reached a different conclusion. But the court did not want to reach this different conclusion. It reached the conclusion it wanted to reach, which was the conclusion that President Rayale wanted it to reach, that the journalists should be tried as criminals. In other words, the court’s decision was not determined by law but by politics.

The biased and political nature of the court was evidenced by the fact that it went out of its way to accuse the defense attorneys of subversive activities (xaalad abuur) and attacked their moral integrity, calling them “dishonest” and “irresponsible” while at the same time the court turned a blind eye to the government’s long list of violations of the basic rights of the journalists.

To make a long story short, what we had on Feb.27 th was not an independent and impartial court carefully weighing the law then reaching a decision but a politicized court faithfully executing the President’s agenda. The consequences of the Supreme Court’s decision could be catastrophic for Somaliland because the country is now set to enter into elections with a discredited justice system and a supreme court that has turned out to be a supreme farce.

Source: Somaliland Times

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