Hassan Istiila
Sunday October 16, 2022
Somali freelance journalist Abdalle Ahmed Mumin. (Abdalle Ahmed Mumin) On October 11, 2022, intelligence personnel at the Aden Adde International Airport in Mogadishu, Somalia, arrested freelance journalist Abdalle Ahmed Mumin, cofounder and secretary general of the Somali Journalists Syndicate (SJS). (Photo credit: Abdalle)
Mogadishu (HOL) - Somali veteran journalist Abdalle Ahmed Mumin was released on bail on Sunday after appearing in a Mogadishu court.
The Somali Journalists Syndicate's (SJS) secretary-general was detained last week on security-related charges while at the airport and en route to Kenya.
According to his charge sheet, the country's attorney general office filed charges against Abdalle Mumin at the behest of the information ministry, which issued a directive prohibiting Somali journalists from covering news about al-Shabab.
Mumin and SJS spoke out agains the directive.
However, a statement issued by Somalia's information ministry on Wednesday claimed that Mumin's arrest "has no charges related to his work as a journalist," which contradicts the charge sheet by the attorney general.
The attorney general's office asked the court for 45 days to investigate the case.
The Somali Journalists Syndicate has maintained that Mumin was arrested on "trumped-up" charges designed to stifle free media.
Mumin's release is welcomed by human rights defenders, including Human Rights Watch, the Committee to Protect Journalists and Amnesty International. Since his arrest, they have called on Somali authorities to drop the charges against Mumin.
Somalia consistently ranks at the bottom of the World Press Freedom Index, which means journalists are expected to work in corrupt and violent environments. Since 2010, more than 50 journalists have been killed in Somalia, making it the most dangerous country in Africa for journalists.