Mohamed Yasin Isak, a reporter for the Somali Service of Voice of America (VOA) in the Mudug region of the country was wounded when a police officer of Puntland Semi-autonomous administration opened fire yesterday around 8:00 PM local time.             

The journalist, who was driving his car on his way to his office in the evening, was shot in the shoulder at a checkpoint, after another police man released the journalist’s car from the checkpoint. The assailant opened fire on him in his car and one of the bullets hit and went through his shoulder. Other bullets penetrated the car’s body and shattered the car’s windscreen and windows. Isak was immediately rushed to a privately owned hospital in Galkayo. According to his doctors, Isak’s situation is stable.  

The motive behind this targeted attack remains unclear.

Less than 24 hours later, a second journalist was shot and wounded, this time in the capital Mogadishu. Abdirahman Warsame, correspondent for Xinhua news agency was shot in his left shoulder today while standing in front of Banadir Hospital in the Madina district of Mogadishu. As there was fighting going on in the area between government forces and African union troops on the one side, local insurgents on the other, Warsame told NUSOJ that he doesn’t know who shot him and which armed group the ones who shot might belong to. “I am in good health,” he added, “only suffering from pain in my shoulder, since the bullet is still in there.”  

Prior to his shooting, Isak had reportedly received threats from the commander of Mudug Region Police Division Colonel Muse Ahmed Abdirahman who yesterday attended a meeting by the journalists in Galkayo city. The Police Commander Colonel was not invited, but said said that the police has followed what Isak has been doing in recent days. Directly attacking the journalist, the commander said that “we know what you are disseminating through media these days”. In their meeting, the journalists were discussing the soaring attacks and pressures from the administration of the Mudug region of Puntland. The decline has been particularly obvious after the journalists were mistreated by police officers and some of the officers of the regional administration at a recent meeting on regional security, convened by the Governor and deputy Governor. When journalists came to this meeting, held at the Police Division Headquarters in Galkayo, some police officers started beating the journalists with the buts of their AK47. Some regional officers including the regional finance secretary insulted the journalists, calling them “rubbish” and “useless”.

In the evening of 25 August 2009 Journalist Mohamed Yasin Isak and his colleague Abdullahi Hersi Adde were briefly arrested by the police in Galkayo. The order to arrest the journalists was issued by the deputy commander of Puntland Police. The police said Isak was accused of sending provocative reports to his V.O.A Somali section, but the police did not justify their arrest of the other journalist. The two journalists were released a few hours later in the same evening.

“While we wish for a full recovery for Mohamed Yasin and Abdirahman Warsame, we categorically denounce these crimes against media professionals and the continued violence against journalists.  The wounding of two colleagues demonstrate the enormous danger our journalist work under, with complete impunity for the culprits”, said Omar Faruk Osman, right, NUSOJ’s Secretary General.

For further information, contact:

Burhan Ahmed Dahir, NUSOJ Puntland Coordinator
Email: burhaandaahir@gmail.com
Mobile: +2525 75 19 75

Mohamed Ibrahim Isak, NUSOJ Press Freedom Coordinator
Email: mohamed.ibrahim@nusoj.org
Mobile: +252-1- 5 88 99 30

National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ)
Taleex Street, KM4 Area, Hodan District,
Mogadishu, Somalia, tel/fax: +252 1 859 944,
e-mail: newsletter@nusoj.org  
Internet: http://www.nusoj.org

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National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ) is a national union representing Somali journalists to promote and protect freedom of the press and the interests and rights of journalists. It is a member of the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), International Freedom of Expression exchange (IFEX), Federation of African Journalists (FAJ) and Eastern Africa Journalists Association (EAJA). NUSOJ is partner with Reporters without Borders (RWB).