Somali region security forces disperse meeting by former cabinet level officials, arrest three local journalists

 

Excabinet level officials reading out a statement after the meeting
Photo: Karamara TV

According to Addis Standard, several ex-officials from the Somali regional administration and three local journalists were arrested on Saturday in Jigjiga while attempting to attend a meeting at a hotel in Jigjiga, the Somali region's capital.

 
Former cabinet officials and central committee members of the ruling prosperity party's regional affiliate convened the gathering. According to accompanying announcements published in Amharic and Af Soomaali after the conference, the purpose of the gathering was to debate regional politics and identify answers to difficulties facing the region's people.
 

Members expressed their displeasure with the regional president, Mustefe Omer, and demanded that the ruling party's national central committee take corrective action.

 
The meeting was dispersed, and members were arrested for an hour before being freed, with the exception of one member of the prosperity party and three journalists covering the event, according to Addis Standard. According to Abdelkayid Burale, a regional observer and human rights activist, all ex-officials who were imprisoned for an hour since last night have been released, with the exception of one member of the ruling party's regional chapter and three local journalists who attended to cover the event.

 
"They attempted to conduct a meeting but were unable to do so, and they published a following statement outlining their problems with the region's leadership," he said.
 

Three Somali journalists, Awkee Ali Ibrahim of Horayaal TV, Najib Tayib of RTN TV, and Muhyddin Mohammed of RTN TV, were arrested while attempting to cover the conference and are now in police prison.

 
Abdulhakim Abdullahi, a former Nabad TV reporter who now works as a freelancer since Nabad TV's Jigjiga headquarters closed, is a member of the Somali Region Journalists Association (SRJA). "We are now at the police commission to gain a fuller grasp of the circumstances behind their detention," he said, confirming the journalists' arrests.

Attempts by the Addis Standard to contact the communication and security bureaus were unsuccessful.