The Government’s Assault On Haatuf

EDITORIAL

The illegal detention of the editor of the Somaliland Times, Yusuf Gabobe, and the editor of its sister newspaper Haatuf, Ali Abdi Dini, is a serious blow to the freedom of the press in Somaliland. The detention is illegal because it happened without a warrant, whereas Somaliland’s press law which was passed by parliament and signed by the president himself, stipulates that a warrant must be issued before arresting a journalist. In addition to illegally detaining the above two journalists, Somaliland’s police physically assaulted another Haatuf staff, Mr Huseen Khalif. During their illegal raid on Haatuf Media Network’s office, Somaliland’s ill-disciplined police also forcibly took cameras from Haatuf journalists and created an atmosphere of fear and pandemonium in Haatuf’s office.

The reason behind the attack on Haatuf is no secret. It is because of a series of articles by Mohammed Rashid Muhummed Farah detailing corruption and appropriation of public funds by the president and his wife. In the interest of fairness, Haatuf had published rebuttals to Mohamed Rashid’s articles. But it is clear from the raid and the reasons the police gave for it, that the government wants to punish Haatuf for daring to publish those articles in the first place. Instead of addressing the issues raised in the articles or trying to get redress through the courts, Somaliland’s government took the law into its own hands and used the state’s machinery against citizens who were doing their job. This shows that the government thinks it’s above the law, and a government that thinks this way sets a bad example for the rest of the citizenry.

It is noteworthy that the government’s assault on Haatuf happened at a time when important changes are taking place in the Horn of Africa region. It is also evident that in order to effectively deal with these changes, Somalilanders would need to be vigilant and united. By unleashing its attack on Haatuf Media Network at such a critical time, and knowing full well the divisive effects and the damage to relations between the government and the independent media that would ensue from such an attack, Somaliland’s government has confirmed, yet again, that its first priority is to defend the personal interests of the president and his ministers rather than the interests of the country.

Source: Somaliland Times

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