Somali journalist, Abdalle Ahmed Mumin, has been freed from prison merely hours after being sentenced to two months in prison on charges of threatening national security, according to a press association. The original verdict, was criticised by human rights activists and media groups, was described as a “clear travesty of justice” by the president of the Somali Journalists’ Union (SJS), who also promised to appeal the decision against Mumin.
Prior to his conviction, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and the International Press Institute had called for the prosecution to be dropped, citing ongoing threats and persecution by the Somali authorities.
Abdalle Ahmed Mumin, the secretary-general of the Somali Journalists Syndicate (SJS), was arrested in October 2022 following a government crackdown on media outlets believed to be involved in propaganda for the radical group Al-Shabaab. The court sentenced Mumin to two months in prison but in an unexpected move he was released quickly after the ruling, having already spent around five months in prison.
“When I was taken to Mogadishu central prison, officers refused to jail me granting my immediate freedom,” he said on Twitter.
Somalia is ranked 140th on Reporters Without Borders’ global press freedom list, with more than 50 journalists killed in the country since 2010. The nation of 17 million people is the most dangerous country for journalists in Africa, according to RSF.
Image Credit: Abdalle Ahmed Mumin
