MOGADISHU, Somalia 13 October 2025 – The Somali Journalists Syndicate (SJS) condemns the arrest of two Himilo Somali TV (Himilo Media) journalists, Ahmed Mohamed Adan and reporter Khadar Abdirahim Ibrahim, who were detained on Sunday, 12 October 2025, by Somali police in Mogadishu following a raid on the station’s studio.
Armed police officers, acting on the orders of the Somali Police Commissioner, Asad Osman Abdullahi, and the Banadir Regional Police Commander, Mahdi Omar Muumin (commonly known as Moalim Mahdi), raided the Himilo Media studio in Mogadishu’s Maka al-Mukarama Avenue. According to the station’s management, the journalists locked themselves inside the studio, prompting the police to leave temporarily.
Later in the day, officers from the Waberi Police Station phoned Himilo Media Director Ahmed Mohamed Adan and reporter Khadar Abdirahim Ibrahim, summoning them to the station. Upon their arrival, both journalists were arrested and placed in detention. They were told that their arrest was linked to Himilo Media’s reports on forced evictions in Mogadishu.
In the evening, Director Ahmed Mohamed Adan was released without charge while reporter Khadar Abdirahim Ibrahim remained in police custody.
A source at the station informed SJS that Moalim Mahdi, the Commander of Mogadishu Police and a former defector from the Al-Shabaab militant group, demanded that Himilo Media delete three recently published reports on the forced evictions of vulnerable families, including women and children, in Mogadishu.
One of the reports featured an interview with an elderly man, Ahmed Siicow Mohamed, who was beaten and dragged by police officers and the national intelligence and security (NISA) agents during a forced eviction operation in the Siinaay neighborhood on 24 September. The other two reports highlighted an injured man whose house was demolished and several vulnerable women who were left homeless.
The director of Himilo Media told SJS that the outlet refused to comply with this demand.
SJS strongly condemns the arrest of the two Himilo Media journalists. Himilo Media has been repeatedly targeted over the past few months for its courageous reporting on government human rights violations, including the ongoing forced evictions affecting Mogadishu’s most marginalized communities.
We demand the immediate release of Khadar Abdirahim and call for an end to the harassment, intimidation, and censorship against journalists working for Himilo Media.
“The actions by the Somali police against Himilo Media and its journalists represent a blatant abuse of power and a serious violation of press freedom and human rights,” said Abdalle Ahmed Mumin, Secretary General of SJS “Arresting journalists and ordering the deletion of news reports on forced evictions is an unacceptable attempt to silence critical reporting and conceal abuses against vulnerable communities in Mogadishu.”
“We call for the immediate and unconditional release of journalist Khadar Abdirahim Ibrahim and urge the authorities to end all forms of intimidation, harassment, and censorship targeting Himilo Media and other independent journalists,” Mr. Mumin adds.
– Somali Journalists Syndicate –
