ALERT
MOGADISHU, Somalia, 13 July, 2019 – Somali Journalists Syndicate (SJS) condemns in the strongest terms possible the physical attack by members of Jubbaland security forces against four journalists in Kismayo on Saturday 13 July, 2019.
Approximately at 11.30am, members of the Jubbaland security forces physically assaulted four journalists who were at the funeral of colleague journalists: Mohamed Omar Sahal and Hodan Naleyeh who were killed in Kismayo hotel attack on Friday.Â
The burial, which took place at Baar Caleen graveyards started with a short prayer before journalists started filming the funeral proceedings when members of the security forces instructed to stop filming, followed by beating the journalists with sticks, punches and kicks and as a result injured four of them.
Mohamud Warsame Shiike, correspondent for Som News TV, sustained bone crack at the upper right arm; Ahmed Isak Abdulle, a freelance correspondent for STN TV, was slightly injured on the left hand’s small finger, while Mohamed Qasim Wahar, Somali Cable TV correspondent and Abdiweli Beddel, a cameraman for STN TV both sustained minor bruises on the back and the right hand respectively.
Journalist Mohamud Warsame Shiike said that he was taken to the hospital and later went home after he received medical attention.
“I was hit with a heavy wooden baton and almost became unconscious. I am now out of the hospital,” Mohamud Warsame Shiike told Somali Journalists Syndicate (SJS).
Meanwhile Ahmed Isak Abdulle’s camera was completely damaged after the attackers grabbed and destroyed it, according to Abdulle and photos seen by Somali Journalists Syndicate (SJS).
“When they attacked us, they also grabbed my camera and smashed it,” Ahmed Isak Abdulle, a freelance correspondent for STN TV, told Somali Journalists Syndicate (SJS) over the phone.
Somali Journalists Syndicate (SJS) strongly condemns this cruel physical attack on journalists who were carrying their normal duties and calls for the Jubbaland authorities to immediately investigate the matter and bring those responsible to book.
“Journalists should not be attacked for only doing what they are supposed to do especially in this grieving time as we are mourning for the loss of two prominent colleagues- Hodan and Sahal killed in Kismayo,” Abdalle Ahmed Mumin, the Secretary General of Somali Journalists Syndicate (SJS) said “We call Jubbaland authorities to investigate this attack and arrest the perpetrators.”
“Such continued attacks against the Journalists and media professionals only highlight the risks the Somali journalists face amidst in working in a hi daily duties to inform the public.” Mr. Mumin added.
On Friday evening, SBC TV correspondent, Mohamed Omar Sahal and Hodan Naleyeh, a female TV journalist and founder of Integration TV were among 26 killed after gunmen with explosives raided Madina Hotel in Kismayo.
Somali Journalists Syndicate mourns with fellow journalists in Kismayo as they attend the funeral of the two journalists who were laid to rest in Kismayo on Saturday.
Late Sahal, 35, was a courageous reporter who devoted his journalism to be the voice of the voiceless communities including internally displaced people. He returned to Kismayo in 2012 soon after the city was retaken from al-Shabaab and he never left his hometown since then. He left behind four children and a wife.
Hodan Naleyeh, 43, returned back home From Canada and begin her heroic TV program to show the world the other side of Somalia. Naleyeh’s husband was also killed. She left behind two sons.
“Somali Journalists Syndicate (SJS) mourns with colleagues and our member journalists in Kismayo who early this morning attended the burial of Mohamed Omar Sahal and Hodan Naleyeh. We convey our heartfelt sympathies to the both families,” Abdalle Ahmed Mumin, the Secretary General of Somali Journalists Syndicate (SJS) said “We also hope a quick recovery for the four colleagues who were physically assaulted today.”