Somaliland court jails members of disabled people amid protest

[Deeq A.]

By Ahmed Abdi

A Somaliland court in Hargeisa on Sunday gave prison sentences to 3 members of disabled people for holding an unauthorized protest.

The three were sentenced to two-years and a half in prison and fined 3000,000 Somaliland Shilling for damaging the prestige of the country in front of International observers, according to Judge Suleiman Jama Handule of Hargeisa District Court.

Judge Handule said, “The three, non-members of the SNDF, Somaliland National Disability Forum, were arrested as they were spreading misinformation  during International Day of Persons with Disabilities celebration for an illegal protest to defame the nation.”

They were convicted of defamation and spreading false news in relation to their billboards.

Director of Human Rights Center Guleid Ahmed Jama said the three defendants were exercising constitutional rights and criticized the court’s conviction.

The conviction of the three protesters has caused public outrage locally and many people took to social media to express shock and anger and called for their immediate release.

They were convicted of defamation and spreading false news in relation to carrying signs reading “equal rights of the disabled people,” tweeted one of them.

The defendants could not get a lawyer who would defend them against the case.