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Paris February 27, 2009 - Reporters Without
Borders today condemned the arrest yesterday by police in Somaliland, of
Mohamed Abdi Guled, editor of the privately-owned weekly Yool appearing
in Hargeysa. The journalist is being held on the premises of the
Criminal Investigations Department (CID).
Several journalists in Hargeysa said that Mohamed Abdi Guled, better
known as "Urad", was probably arrested as a result of the publication of
an article on 24 February, exposing planned murder attempts against
Somaliland’s parliamentary deputies, leaders of opposition parties and
traditional chiefs.
“This arrest is illegal, since Somaliland’s media law lays down that the
authorities can only arrest a journalist on the order of a court,” the
worldwide press freedom organization said.
“In these circumstances and knowing that no charge has brought against
Mohamed Abdi Guled, he should logically be immediately released”, the
organization said.
His fellow journalists also said that the incident, forcing Urad to
spend the weekend in custody without going before a court, was aimed at
“intimidating the entire journalist community of Somaliland”.
Source: Reporters Without Borders (http://www.rsf.org)
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