The International Federation of Journalists has condemned the assassination on Friday of a leading radio journalist in Somalia where a wave of brutal and targeted attacks has claimed eight media victims this year. On the same day a number of incidents across the country suggested independent media face a new wave of intimidation. (22-OCT-07)

Originally distributed by the Somali Shabelle Media Network, this article has been edited and supplemented by HRH F / Niels Jacob Harbitz.

The IFJ has joined its affiliate in the country, the National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ), in protests over the killing of Bashir Nor Gedi, acting head of the Shabelle Media Network who was gunned down at his home on Friday evening in Wardhigley district of Hamarjadid neighborhood. His friends and colleagues are convinced this is a targeted assassination.

-Disintegration of democratic values leaves journalists exposed
“2007 is turning into a nightmare year for Somali journalism,” said Aidan White, IFJ General Secretary. “This latest murder shows how the absence of rule of law and the disintegration of democratic values has left journalists and media exposed to terror and intimidation on an unprecedented scale.” The killing came on a day when numerous incidents in the country involving journalists pointed to new oppression of media. Abdi Farah Jama Mire, Director of Radio Garowe, Mohammed Dahir Yusuf, Producer, and Isse Abdullahi Mohammed, the radio´s Editor, were arrested and detained by heavily armed Puntland security forces on Friday afternoon and the radio station closed. Later Abdi Mire and Dahir Yusuf were released.

Photographers arrested, equipment confiscated
Earlier in the day Abdirashid Abdulle Abikar, a photojournalist working with the Agence France Presse news agency was briefly arrested by security agents of the Transitional Federal Government. Following hours of questioning he was released. In another incident, Abdirashid Abdulle Abikar, who is secretary of training of the National Union of Somali Journalists, was arrested whilst taking photos of wounded people at Madina hospital. His photographic equipment was confiscated.

-Free journalism almost impossible
In another incident Abdullahi Mohammed Hassan “Black”, Editor-in-Chief of the Mogadishu based Ayamaaha Daily Newspaper, was arrested by forces from National Security Agency at the newspaper´s office in Mogadishu. He was held overnight and released on Saturday morning. “This killing and the harassment of journalists are a further indicator of the perilous conditions facing journalists in Somalia. Political chaos and lawlessness makes the exercise of free journalism almost impossible,” said White. He said the media crisis in Somalia would figure on the agenda of the IFJ International Executive Board which meets in Brussels at the end of next week. “We will do all we can to build solidarity with our Somali colleagues,” he said.

Timeline:
2006:
June 23 – Gunman shoots dead Swedish television cameraman Martin Adler covering a pro-Islamist demonstration in Mogadishu.
Aug 4 – Vehicle carrying members of the National Union of Somali Journalists is ambushed between Baidoa and Mogadishu. The driver Madey Garas is killed and a journalist injured.

2007:
Feb 16 – Ali Mohammed Omar, a presenter on Radio Warsan in Baidoa, is shot dead by three assailants as he walked home.
May 5 – Mohammed Abdullahi Khalif is killed in Puntland.
May 15 – Abshir Ali Gabra and Ahmed Hassen are killed in the central Shabelle region.
Aug 11 – Gunmen shoot dead Somali HornAfrik radio journalist and talk show host Mahad Ahmed Elmi outside his station in Mogadishu.
Aug 11 – HornAfrik media co-founder Ali Iman Sharmarke is killed by a landmine while travelling in Mogadishu after the funeral of a murdered colleague. Reuters journalist Sahal Abdulle is injured.
Aug 24 – Abdulkadir Mahad Moallim Kaskey of local Radio Banadir is killed after attackers open fire on a minibus in southwestern Gedo province. Another passenger is hurt.
Oct 19 – Acting chairman of Radio Shabelle, Bashir Nur Gedi, is shot dead by unknown men in his house in Mogadishu.

Sources: Reuters/ Reporters Without Borders (RSF) / National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ).