Hargeysa, Somaliland, March 10, 2007 (SL Times) – On a Friday evening BBC Somali section live debate broadcast, Somaliland Minister of Information, Ahmed H. Dahir, said that his government recognizes the press law as being the only valid law concerning the media.

“There is no other law exercised in the country for the press, even the president himself has acknowledged this in public most recently, and as far as I am concerned, Somaliland press law is the current law, and will continue to be so, unless the country’s institutions decide to change it in the future,” said the minister.

When asked, “didn’t the Supreme Court determine that the current press law is inappropriate and defunct?,” the minister replied, “this is not the view of the government.”

Moreover, this view has also been echoed this week by parliament’s lower house. Last Tuesday, Parliament passed a resolution calling on the government and the judiciary to implement the press law.

Parliament also announced that a committee will be formed to investigate the manner in which Haatuf journalists were arrested and the way their trial was handled by the security personnel and the courts.

Source: Somaliland Times