Freedom Is In Jail, Not The Haatuf Journalists

Dr Mohamed Dirie Abdillahi, Hargeysa, Somaliland

When the Haatuf saga begun, I, for one, thought that the Haatuf journalists were the victim of an overzealous chap who was trying to please his superiors and that they would be freed soon. It was never to be.

Instead, what happened is the unthinkable---a trail and a conviction all in the infamous Mandera dungeon---the same one that served Siyad Barre as a jail for prisoners of conscience awaiting execution.

Unthinkable, because we in Somaliland had been proud of having produced a unique and workable democracy in Africa. It is unique because of its combination of tradition and modernity in that we have a house of elders and a house of representatives. It was workable because when we put it to test   it gave us three free elections (municipal, presidential and legislative).

What is more interesting about our democracy is that we that the legislative elections produced an opposition majority and a minority ruling party. It is what is called in France "la co-habitation". This was a remarkable achievement in the Horn of Africa, given that the eventuality of such a process led to bloodshed in Ethiopia, our next-door neighbor, when Meles, the helmsman for life, smelled that he was going to lose parliament to the opposition.

Now that the unthinkable has happened and that the Haatuf journalists have been sentenced in a kangaroo court in the midst of a maximum security penitentiary, like they were dangerous terrorists, we have to ask the question of who is actually in jail.

For those who can extend the conclusion to it is logical end, it is not actually the Haatuf journalists who are in jail right now---it is freedom that has been sent to prison. Yes, our freedom and rights --- the right to free speech, and the right to a fair trail.

Today, as a matter of fact, the rights and freedom of all Somalilanders are in jail, suspended by the whims of the leadership and a subservient judiciary.

When will they be restored? We do not know; but let us all hope that this is not a turn into terror and dictatorship. Let's we hope that all of us we will realize that freedom should never be taken for granted; that there is always a struggle between whose who uphold human rights and freedom and those who, because it is convenient for them, will try to curtail our freedom and rights.

We should remember that the right to free speech and the right to a fair trail are more important than the vanity of anyone of us; no woman or man, be they president or not, can claim that whatever slight they have been subjected to by a journalist is reason enough to curtail, suspend and end our rights and freedom. If we ever accept that they do so, we have allowed them to practice tyranny, not governance. Let that be a clear to all.

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