Tough year ahead for Somalian media

On Monday, 5 January 2015, Shabelle and Sky FM journalists who were in custody since August 2014 appeared before court but their hearing was postponed due to the absence of their lawyer.

On 4 January, two journalists, Mohamed Salaad Osman, who is the head of programs of Goobjoog radio, and Ibrahim Haji Yusuf were arrested while following up a story about an explosion in Mogadishu.

They were released on Monday from prison by Somali security agencies without stating the main reason detained in the first place.

On Saturday, 3 January, authorities closed down Radio Risaala and arrested two journalists, the director Mohamed Abdiwahab Abdullahi and its editor Mohamed Kaafi Sheik Abukar.

The two journalists are still in jail after covering unconfirmed case of the Ebola virus in the country.

The chairman of Somali Independent Media Houses Association, Hassan Ali Gesey has called upon the government to respect the freedom of the media and free detained journalists without further delay.

"2015 has started yet in dark days for Somali media, we expect improvement as time goes and urge government to respect the non-negotiable media freedom." Gesey said.