By Agwanda Saye in Somali
National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ) welcome Ahlu Sunna waljama release the two journalists arrested in the Somalia’s central town of Dhusomareb two days ago were illegally sentenced to three months jail by the Sufi militia run local court and submitted to the central prison in the town but later released with the help of The National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ) on Thursday.
But after many contacts with the Sufi Ahlu-Suna rulers in Dhusomareb, the NUSOJ officials succeeded to convince the court judge the charge against the journalists was baseless and they were released on Wednesday at 06:00 PM local time.
The journalists were sued with an false charges on accusing them of a news coverage describing the Ahlu-Suna fighters as clan based militia bandits but that case lacked any evidence.
The chairman of Ahlu-Suna Sheik Ibrahim Sheik Hassan Guureeye told NUSOJ he will intervene the case and correct the faults within the administration. Ibrahim has opologized over the journalists’ arrests and pledged for NUSOJ that this won’t happen and those who were behind it will be brought before justice.
The man behind the reports’ arrests who is the chairman of the security board in Dhusomareb town Farhan Sheik Ali has himself paid an excuse over this order pointing it as a mistake which came into misunderstanding.
Journalist Abdirahman Moalim Ahmed described their arrest as in violation of their freedom. They were beaten and tortured to confess un existed and uninvolved crime.
Militias loyal to the local Sufi militias, Ahlu Suna Wal-Jama raided the offices of the Radio Voice of Central Dhusamareb (Idaacadda Codka Bartamaha Dhusamareb) based in Dhusamareb on Tuesday morning around 6:20am local time, where they have seriously beaten and arrested Bashir Mohamed Salad Aka Bashir Sanka who contributes both Dalsan Radio, a privately owned independent radio station based in Mogadishu and Idacada Codka Bartamaha, an independent radio station based Dhusamareb and Abdi Jamal Moalim Ahmed, who is the correspondent of Radio Bar-Kulan, a UN Funded radio.
The Shabab, which is affiliated to Al-Qaeda looted the Radio equipment twice after raiding the town and briefly taking it over, there has been similar fears within the residents after the Ahlu Sunna Waljama militias supported by the Ethiopian troops abandoned the town of Elbur, a strategic town in central Somalia this weekend.
On 5th June, 2012, The Deputy Security Chief of the town’s Security Committee, Mr. Nor Elmi Hoosagale threatened the journalists after similar episode, of which the town’s people evacuated the town, took place.
On June 8, 2012 Two unknown assailants armed with pistols shot twice Mohamed Noor Mohamed better known as Mohamed Sharif – reporter for the Bar-Kulan Radio – below the heart which penetrated the back and the stomach on Friday evening June 8, 2012 around 7:30pm local time near Horn Cable Television office in Hamarjajab neighborhood as he was returning from work. The attackers fled the area immediately, according to witnesses.