Somalia: Puntland shutters critical newspaper

IFEX - News from the international freedom of expression community
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ALERT UPDATE - SOMALIA (PUNTLAND)

9 May 2005

Puntland shutters critical newspaper

SOURCE: Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), New York

**Updates IFEX alert of 4 May 2005**

(CPJ/IFEX) - The following is a 6 May 2005 CPJ press release:

SOMALIA: Puntland shutters critical newspaper

New York, May 6, 2005 - Puntland authorities have ordered the immediate
closing of the weekly newspaper Shacab for allegedly inciting violence,
according to CPJ sources. The decree, issued after a cabinet meeting on
Thursday, cited the government's constitutional responsibility to uphold the
unity of Puntland.

The decree was signed by Vice President Hassan Dahir Afqurac on behalf of
President Adde Muse Hirsi, who is traveling abroad, according to the Somali
Journalists Network (SOJON). It ordered Shacab "temporarily suspended" for
an undetermined period for publishing unspecified articles that it claimed
could lead to unrest.

"CPJ is outraged at this shutdown of Shacab and calls on President Adde Muse
to immediately lift the ban," CPJ Executive Director Ann Cooper said.
"Allowing public debate and a free flow of information on matters of public
concern are particularly vital at a time when Somalia is seeking to restore
peace and democracy."

CPJ wrote to Adde Muse this week to protest several recent attacks on the
press, including ongoing government harassment of Shacab. In April, Shacab
editor Abdi Farah Nur and reporter Abdirashid Qoransey were detained, tried,
and acquitted on charges of incitement and insulting the president. Those
charges were based on a mid-April article suggesting that citizens with
complaints about the Puntland government contact their representatives in
parliament, and a reader's letter criticizing authorities, according to
Farah.

Farah told CPJ that official harassment of the newspaper has continued since
their release on April 24. Government officials have made several visits,
raising questions about the newspaper's license and demanding payment of
"taxes."

Puntland is an autonomous region in Somalia's northeast. Somalia has had no
functioning central authority since 1991. A peace conference in Nairobi,
Kenya, last year elected former Puntland President Abdullahi Yusuf to head a
transitional federal government, although that government has not yet
returned to Somalia for security reasons. Puntland's parliament elected Adde
Muse to succeed Yusuf, and its authorities have signed on to the peace
process.

To read CPJ's May 3 letter:
http://www.cpj.org/protests/05ltrs/Somalia03may05pl.html

CPJ is a New York-based, independent, nonprofit organization that works to
safeguard press freedom worldwide. For more information, visit
http://www.cpj.org

For further information, contact Africa Program Coordinator Julia Crawford
(x112) at CPJ, 330 Seventh Ave., New York, NY 10001, U.S.A., tel: +1 212 465
1004, fax: +1 212 465 9568, e-mail: [email protected],
[email protected], Internet: http://www.cpj.org/

The information contained in this alert update is the sole responsibility of
CPJ. In citing this material for broadcast or publication, please credit
CPJ.
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