Somalia’s Federal government intelligence agents raided a private television office in Mogadishu, shutting its office and detaining two staff members.
According to reports, the London-based Universal TV aired a political program last week in which two members of the Federal Parliament argued that Somalia is not ‘’sovereign’’.
Awil Dahir Salad and Abdullahi Kulmiye are currently held in the National Intelligence agency headquarters in the Somali capital.
Somali government authorities were not available to comment on the main reasons behind the closure of the private station branch in Mogadishu and arrests of the journalists.
Several media associations have condemned the arrest of the Journalists and shutting of the station. They called for the government authorities to respect the rights of press.
Somalia is regarded as one of the riskiest countries in the world to be a journalist. More than 30 journalists have been killed in the country since 2007, according to Reporters without Borders.
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Somalia: Federal government shuts private TV office, detains staff
Published: October 3, 2015