On Thursday, 26 March, police officers in Laascaanood arrested Abdiqani Abdirahman Mohamed, who reports for Dhulmar Media, an online news channel covering the northeastern regions, following his publication ofan interviewwith a former adviser to the Northeastern State leader, who warned that "the Somali Federal Government is pushing clan militias and forces in Laascaanood to be deployed to Southwest State" — where federal government forces and Southwest State authorities are mobilising against each other amid rising tensions over elections, risking internal conflict. The official, Abdirisak Mohamed Warsame, stated that federal government officials are seeking to recruit forces from Laascaanood to be sent to fight in Baidabo, the seat of Southwest State. He added that the "federal government does not have the right to use local forces to engage in an internal conflict" in Southwest State. The former adviser was alsoarrested,police said on 26 March. According to the journalist's family, and corroborated by photos obtained by SJS, the journalist was initially held at the Laascaanood central police station with his legs chained. On 28 March, without a lawyer and without the knowledge of his family, Abdiqani was transferred to the main prison known asGoojacaddePrison, on the outskirts of the city of Laascaanood. A court letter issued by the First Instance Court of Sool Region, which SJS has seen, indicates that the Northeastern State attorney accused both journalist Abdiqani Abdirahman Mohamed and Abdirizak Mohamed Warsame of five charges, namely: Article 215 (Propaganda against the country); Article 219 (Destabilising the nation or the state); Article 220 (Defaming the reputation of state institutions); Article 231 (Inciting the public to commit crimes); and Article 328 (Publishing or spreading false information that disrupts public order). All are vague charges under the Somali Penal Code, often used by both the Somali Federal Government and its regional states against journalists and critics. A local lawyer who spoke to SJS, however, indicated that the court letter lacks the legal proceedings required for a charge sheet, and that the letter — though signed by Sheikh Ali Aden Dalmar, Chairman of the First Instance Court of the Sool Region — failed to clarify the nature of the charges and how they were applied against both the journalist and the politician he interviewed. Laascaanood police did not reply to SJS calls seeking clarification. A member of Abdiqani's family told SJS that his wife, who recently gave birth, has been forced to bring food to him, as prison officials said they cannot provide food to Abdiqani. According to his family and a colleague who SJS interviewed, Abdiqani is complaining of leg pain due to a pre-existing condition. SJS is concerned that the detention of Abdiqani Abdirahman Mohamed on false and politically motivated charges sends a deeply troubling message to journalists across Laascaanood as this will enable towards self-censorship of the local reporters, deterring sources and whistleblowers from speaking to the media. At a time when Somalia already struggles with press freedom, cases like this will further normalise the use of vague penal code provisions as weapons against critical reporting, entrench a culture of impunity, erode editorial independence, and threaten to silence the independent voices that communities rely on to hold power to account. "The arrest and continued detention of Abdiqani Abdirahman Mohamed in the Goojacadde prison in Laascaanood is a blatant attack on press freedom and an attempt to silence independent reporting in Laascaanood. The charges brought against him are false, legally baseless, and politically motivated. Abdiqani did nothing more than report a newsworthy interview in the public interest — that is not a crime," said SJS Secretary General, Abdalle Mumin. "We call on the authorities in Laascaanood to immediately stop all charges against him, release him without any further delay, and cease all legal threats against him and his fellow journalists," Mr. Mumin added.Read the original story here