Somaliland journalist held 10 days without charge, CPJ says

The Committee for the Protection of Journalists urged Somaliland authorities on Tuesday to release journalist Abdiqani Hussein Abokor, saying he had been held without charge or trial for 10 days.

CPJ said Abokor had been detained since August 29 after publishing an interview that criticised Somaliland President Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi. The group said he was arrested two days after posting a video interview with local poet Ismail Yusuf Abdo, who accused authorities of illegally seizing his land and warned that the president would be cursed if he did not intervene.

The poet was arrested the following day, CPJ said.

Abokor, who publishes on his Facebook page, was presented in court in Hargeisa on the day of his arrest and remanded in custody for seven days, but has not appeared since, according to CPJ. His lawyer told the group that police were considering charges of defamation and publishing anti-government propaganda, which CPJ said are punishable by three and five years in prison.

CPJ Africa head Muthoki Mumo said Abokor “joins a long list of journalists in Somaliland who have been detained and held under dubious circumstances in recent months.” CPJ said it contacted the authorities and police but received no response.