MOGADISHU, Somalia – 18 March 2025 – The Somali Journalists Syndicate (SJS) and the Somali Media Association (SOMA) condemn the arrest of five Risaala Media Corporation journalists, who were detained today after Somali police raided and shut down their station in Mogadishu.
Armed police officers, led by their commander Abdi Ali, forcibly entered Risaala Media’s station in the Hamar Jajab district of Mogadishu at midday on Tuesday. They ordered the station off-air before arresting all five journalists present.
The radio station and its affiliated channels, including Risaala TV, went off-air shortly afterward. The detained journalists—Ali Ibrahim Abdullahi Suheyfa (reporter), Hamda Hassan Ahmed (female reporter), Mohamed Said Nur (cameraman), Liban Abdullahi Hussein (radio technician), and Abdalla Sharif Ali (cameraman)—were taken to Hamar Jajab police station where they were put on intense interrogation about their coverage on today’s bombing in Mogadishu.
Risaala Media was the first outlet to publish news of Tuesday’s bombing attack targeting Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud’s convoy at the entrance of the presidential palace in Mogadishu, which resulted in casualties.
The journalists said that while in the cell, Banadir Police Commissioner Moalim Mahdi visited them and asked why Risaala reported the bombing attack on the president’s convoy.
As a result of the bombing attack, journalist Mohamed Abukar Dabashe, who previously worked for Radio Risaala, was among several killed. Dabashe becomes the first journalist killed in Somalia in 2025.
Al-Shabaab had claimed responsibility of the attack.
The police officers who raided the station did not have a court warrant. Risaala Media’s management confirmed that the order for the raid and arrests came from Banadir Regional Police Commissioner Mahdi Omar Mumin (popularly known as Moalim Mahdi).
Both Moalim Mahdi and Abdi Ali are former Al-Shabaab defectors who have been incorporated into the Somali police in Mogadishu.
SJS strongly condemns the raid on Risaala Media and the arrest of its journalists. While all five journalists have now been released, SJS demands that Risaala Media and its affiliated channels be allowed to resume their vital role in informing the public.
It is worth noting that this raid and the arrest of Risaala journalists come just a week after Minister of Information Daud Aweis threatened legal action and severe punishment for journalists and media outlets reporting on security failures in Mogadishu, amid growing Al-Shabaab attacks in and around the Somali capital.
“We welcome the freedom of all our colleagues at the Risaala media after they were unlawfully arrested today in Modadishu. This unlawful raid and arrest of journalists for simply doing their job is a blatant attack on press freedom,” said SJS Secretary General, Abdalle Mumin.
“Silencing independent media through intimidation and force only serves to suppress the truth. Independent reporting is crucial for the public to stay informed, hold authorities accountable, and ensure transparency in times of terror attacks. We demand the immediate restoration of Risaala Media and an end to the crackdown on journalists in Somalia,” added Mr. Mumin.
“We strongly condemn the raid on Risaala Media and the detention of five journalists. Such actions undermine press freedom and the vital role of media in informing the public,” said SOMA Secretary General, Mohamed Abduwahab Abdullahi “While we welcome their release, this attack on journalists must not be repeated. Somali government and its police officers must understand that the work of journalists telling the story of what is happening is not a crime.”