Dismay at three-year jail sentence for Somaliland new spaper editor

Reporters Without Borders is “dismayed” by the three-year jail sentence and fine of 6 million  Somalila nd shillings (around 1,000 dollars) that a court in Hargeisa, the capital of the  breaka way northwestern territory of Somaliland, passed yesterday on Mohamud Abdi Jama, the edit or of the independent news paper Waheen, for allegedly libelling local officials.

“This sentence has all the hallmarks of summary and punitive justice,” Reporters Without Bord ers said. “The court should have first established whether or not anyone was defamed and, if they were, a  mor e measured and just penalty should have been imposed. Imprisonment is  cle arly disproportionate for defamation. We urge the courts to reverse this decision on appeal.”

Judge Ali Sudi Diriye found Jama guilty of defaming Somaliland’s chief of police and the head of the  ter ritory’s power company (Somaliland Electricity Agency) by publishing “false and misleading reports” about alleged nepotism within these institutions.

Jama was incarcerated in Hargeisa’s main prison immediately after the trial. His lawyer said he would appeal.
 

Source: en.rsf.org