Puntland authorities arrest online journalist

He is currently being held in the Bossasso Central Police Station.

The day before his arrest, police visited Mohamed's former employers at the Eastern Television Network (ETN) searching for him. Police arrested Mohamed at 11.30am on Wednesday shortly after the reporter came to the Regional Police Division headquarters to learn why the police were looking for him, the secretary-general of the Media Association of Puntland, Burhan Dahir, told CPJ.

Arrested on "flimsiest of grounds"

Local journalists said they suspected Mohamed was arrested for an online article published Sunday that claimed two men whose bodies were found near a roadside in Bossasso were part of the Puntland security forces. The police denied they were security personnel, local journalists told CPJ. It was not immediately clear how the men were killed.

"Faysal Mohamed is being deprived of his liberty on the flimsiest of grounds. Publishing a so-called 'false news report' should not be a criminal offence," said CPJ East Africa consultant Tom Rhodes. "He must be released immediately."

Authorities arrested Horseed Media radio director Abdifatah Jama on treason charges for airing an interview with an Islamist rebel leader last year. President Abdirahman Mohamed Farole issued a pardon releasing the journalist two months after his arrest.

Article published courtesy of CPJ.