King_Sasa Posted March 31, 2009 One of the editors of LaasqorayNET, a Somali website based in Bosaaso, Somalia has been sent to jail for 2 years for alleged spreading fabricated stories and lies against the government and security officials and LaasqorayNET totally has rejected. Judge Abdi Aware of Bosaso city district court lowered the prosecution’s [General Ilkajir] request of three years jail term, sentencing the journalist to two years in jail. Jama Feyte, young and ambitious investigative journalist based in Bosaaso has been held in prison in Bosaso for 5 days before his so called trial in Bosaaso district court in which he was not provided with a lawyer or LaasqorayNET representatives in Bosaaso. He has carried many investigative reports in Sanaag and Puntland and he was well known reporter who with out hasitation reported on Pirates activities, human smuggling and other covered news. His arrest came after the interior minister Mr. Abdullahi Ahmed Jama Ilkajir [an American citizen and who hails from Sanaag] requested from Bosaaso Police authority to arrest Jama with baseless allegation that one of his local commanders was about to join Somaliland. LaasqorayNET are in consultation with lawyers in USA and in Europe in this issue as many leaders in Puntland are either American citizen or European citizen. Similarly, local journalist associations have called the court verdict an insult to justice and demanded the immediate release of Jama Feyte while the entire Somali journalists are strongly condemning the illegitimate arrest of Jama Feyte who was performing his job and his reports on the fact on the ground Burham Ahmed, the Secretary of MAP [Media Association of Puntland] told local media in Bosaaso, that there was not enough evidence to convict the journalist for such a long jail sentence. Source- LaasqorayNET Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
King_Sasa Posted March 31, 2009 We were hoping for change and we got in return oppression of news providers and a pirate roaming around freely, I think is the time the media folk to arm themselves for protection. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
NASSIR Posted April 1, 2009 It's getting terrible. ----------- Freelance journalist gets two years in prison in Puntland on defamation charge A court in Bosaso, the main port city of the semi-autonomous northern region of Puntland, yesterday sentenced freelance journalist Jama Ayanle Feyte to two years in prison, Reporters Without Borders has learned from its partner organisation in Somalia, the National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ). Feyte was not defended by a lawyer at the trial, which was held four days after he was arrested in Bosaso. He was accused of defamation and disseminating false information but the authorities did not specify what prompted the charges. “Feyte is the victim of a flagrant case of summary justice and must be freed without delay,” Reporters Without Borders said. “This conviction was clearly politically motivated as there were absolutely no grounds for the charges. We urge the Puntland authorities to adopt a law that protects press freedom and protects journalists from arbitrary arrest.” Several local sources said Feyte’s arrest on 26 March was ordered by Puntland interior minister Abdullahi Jama Ilkajir and could have been prompted by political comments Feyte had made about the region’s authorities. Feyte works for several local newspapers and the Dayniile.com et Laasqoray.net websites. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
NASSIR Posted April 1, 2009 Source: Reporters without borders Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
