SOMALILAND [SMN] – In Hargeisa, more than 10 journalists remain behind bars for the fourth consecutive day after being arrested by security forces for reporting on a shootout at Hargeisa Central Prison.
According to reports, some independent journalists issued a statement condemning the arrest of their colleagues and calling for their immediate and unconditional release.
Abdirashid Abdiwahab, a journalist who read out the statement they released after a meeting in Hargiesa, said the media workers are concerned about the situation of the imprisoned journalists.
The government and security agencies in Somaliland have not yet commented on the mass arrests.
Local and international media watchdogs have slammed the worsening crackdown on the press freedom in Somaliland, a breakaway region in northern Somalia seeking a secession since 1991.
On Saturday, the journalists were arraigned in a Hargeisa court today, which granted the police permission to detain them for five days at the request of the Criminal Investigation Department C.I.D.
