“Mohamed Abukar Dabashe’s death is devastating. Unfortunately, he joins a long list of Somali journalists killed in Al-Shabaab attacks with impunity,” said CPJ Africa Program Coordinator Muthoki Mumo. “Somali authorities should investigate the killing of Mohamed Abukar Dabashe and desist from further intimidation and censorship of journalists who are already operating under difficult circumstances.”

Mohamed Abukar’s body was found in a collapsed building, where he is reported to have lived, near the attack site. He worked with Risaala Media Corporation until 2023, and had recently been publishing his journalism on Facebook and the YouTube news channel Sirta Waraka, Risaala’s director Mohamed Abduwahab Abdullahi told CPJ.

Armed police raided Risaala’s offices about 20 minutes after it broadcast footage of the explosion site, ordered its radio and television channels off air, and arrested reporters Ali Abdullahi Ibrahim and Hamda Hassan Ahmed; camera operators Mohamed Said Nur and Abdullahi Sharif Ali; and technician Liban Abdullahi Hassan, according to Mohamed Abduwahab, who is also secretary general of the Somali Media Association, and a statement by the Somali Journalists Syndicate rights group.

The journalists were detained for about two hours at a police station, where they were warned not to broadcast such content, and released without charge. Risaala had resumed operations by the evening. 

Police also briefly detained at least 17 other journalists at the attack site and questioned them at a local station about their coverage, three journalists familiar with the incident, who are not being named due to safety concerns, told CPJ.

Police spokesperson Abdifatah Adan Hassan told CPJ by phone that police were trying to verify the identities of journalists at the site but did not make any arrests and that Risaala staff were asked to leave their office for safety.

CPJ’s calls to request comment from information minister Daud Aweis were not answered.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.

On March 15, police assaulted at least nine journalists on the court’s premises in the capital city of Dhaka after clashes broke out between lawyers supporting the ruling Awami League party and the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party, and police charged into the crowd swinging their batons, according to multiple news reports and five of those journalists, who spoke with CPJ.

The deputy commissioner of the Dhaka police’s Ramna division told news website Bdnews24.com later on March 15 that “journalists got caught up in the turmoil” when officers attempted to break up the unrest, and police were investigating the attacks.

On March 16, Dhaka police officials expressed regret over the incident in a meeting with local journalists but, as of March 29, have not held any of the officers involved in the attacks to account, the journalists told CPJ. 

“The recent apology by the Dhaka police over officers’ attacks on at least nine Bangladeshi journalists is a welcome but insufficient response,” said Carlos Martinez de la Serna, CPJ’s program director. “Bangladeshi authorities must hold the officers who attacked journalists to account, return any equipment confiscated from reporters, and ensure that police are thoroughly trained so they can help, rather than imperil, members of the press covering newsworthy events.”

Two officers with the police Public Order Management Division slapped Zabed Akhter, a senior reporter for the privately owned broadcaster ATN News, shoved him to the ground, and kicked him as he repeatedly identified himself as a journalist and told them he suffered from a nerve condition, Akhter told CPJ by phone.

Police also pushed Jannatul Ferdous Tanvi, a senior reporter for the privately owned broadcaster Independent Television, as she tried to help him, Akhter said.

Later that day, Akhter received medical treatment for internal injuries to his waist and back at a hospital, where the two officers apologized to the journalist, Akhter said, adding that those officers had not been held to account for the incident as of March 29.

A group of 10 to 15 officers kicked and used a bamboo stick to beat Md. Humaun Kabir, a senior camera operator for the privately owned broadcaster ATN Bangla who was filming the unrest, knocking him to the ground, Kabir told CPJ by phone. Officers continued to slap him as he ran away, according to a video of the incident reviewed by CPJ. Kabir sustained a head injury for which he took painkillers. 

Five or six officers beat Maruf Hasan, a reporter for the privately owned newspaper Manab Zamin, in the head and back while he identified himself as a journalist, he told CPJ via messaging app.  Officers also insulted him with vulgar language and confiscated his microphone, which they had not returned as of March 29, Hasan said.

He told CPJ that he sustained painful injuries to the areas that were beaten.

About five police officers also beat Mohammad Fazlul Haque, a senior reporter for the privately owned news website Jago News, according to Haque, who told CPJ via messaging app that he had been beaten but then did not respond to additional questions seeking details.  

According to those news reports and the journalists who spoke with CPJ, police also attacked Nur Mohammad, a reporter for the privately owned newspaper Ajker Patrika; Ibrahim Hossain, a camera operator for the privately owned broadcaster Boishakhi Television; Kabir Hossain, a reporter for the privately owned newspaper Kalbela; and Mehedi Hassan Dalim, a reporter for the privately owned news website The Dhaka Post.

CPJ contacted those journalists via messaging app seeking additional details but did not receive any replies.

Suvra Kanti Das, a senior photojournalist for the privately owned newspaper Prothom Alo, told CPJ by phone that he was also covering the elections when an officer grabbed him by the shirt, demanded to see his media identification card, insulted him with vulgar language, and ordered him to leave the premises, which he did.

CPJ’s calls and messages to Roy Niyati, a spokesperson for the Dhaka Metropolitan Police, did not receive any replies.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by Committee to Protect Journalists.

At least 120 people were killed in two car bomb explosions outside the education ministry offices, near the busy Zobe junction in Mogadishu, according to multiple media reports. The Al-Shabaab, a militant group linked to Al-Qaeda, claimed responsibility for the attack, according to media reports.

Mohamed—also known as Koonaa—a reporter and producer with the privately owned M24 Somali TV online broadcaster, died at the scene of the explosions after suffering severe head injuries, according to M24 Somali TV’s chief executive officer and founder Abdiwali Abdullahi Hussein, also known as Keytoon, who spoke to CPJ via messaging app, as well as separate statements by the Somali Journalists Syndicate (SJS) and the Federation of Somali Journalists (FESOJ), two local press rights groups.

Reuters photographer Feisal Omar and Abdulkadir Mohamed Abdulle, director of M24 Somali TV and a contributor to the U.S. Congress-funded broadcaster Voice of America (VOA), also were injured at the scene of the blasts, according to a VOA report and Reuters statement emailed to CPJ. All three journalists had rushed to the scene to report on the first blast when the second bomb exploded, the SJS statement, Abdiwali, and a Reuters spokesperson said. In addition, Bile Abdisalan, a security guard at the Reuters bureau, suffered minor injuries to his leg in the explosions, the Reuters spokesperson said in the statement.

“Mohamed Isse Hassan joins a long list of Somali journalists who have lost their lives in Al-Shabaab attacks, in a country considered one of the most hostile environments for the press. Unfortunately, these attacks are often characterized by a lack of accountability for the culprits,” said Muthoki Mumo, CPJ sub-Saharan Africa representative. “Mohamed and the other journalists and media workers injured in the attack on October 29 deserve justice. Authorities should ensure they receive it.”

Mohamed and Abdulkadir were at the M24 Somali TV offices near the Zobe junction when the first bomb exploded around 2 p.m., Abdiwali and a VOA report said. Both rushed to the scene to cover the first blast and were hit when the second explosion went off minutes later, as ambulances and other first responders arrived, Abdiwali and other media reports said. The Reuters spokesperson said that Feisal was taking photographs “when the secondary blast took place.”

Abdulkadir lost two fingers and had shrapnel wounds in his abdomen, the VOA report said. Abdiwali said that Abdulkadir was discharged from the hospital by October 31. The Reuters spokesperson said that Feisal was “fine and recovering at home” but still needed minor surgery to remove “some debris or shrapnel” that hit him in the torso.

Mohamed, who is survived by his wife and a six-month-old son, previously worked with various media outlets in Mogadishu, including privately owned Universal Somali TV, where he was a reporter until a few months ago, according to Abdiwali and Universal Somali TV East Africa director Abdullahi Hersi Kulmiye, who spoke to CPJ via messaging app. Abdullahi said that Mohamed had also worked with the privately owned Somali outlets Radio Simba, Goobjoog Media Group, and Shabelle Media Network. Mohamed also published his reporting on his Facebook page using the brand Koonaa Media, according to CPJ’s review of that page.

Mohamed is the second journalist to be killed in connection to his work in Somalia this year. On September 30, state-media camera operator Ahmed Mohamed Shukur was killed in a bomb attack by Al-Shabaab. Five years ago, on October 14, 2017, journalist Ali Nur Siad was among at least 500 people killed after a truck bomb detonated at the Zobe junction. That attack was attributed to Al-Shabaab, though the group did not claim responsibility, media reports said.

In a telephone call on Tuesday evening, Somali police spokesperson Sadiq Dodishe asked CPJ to send queries via messaging app but had yet to respond to those questions by publication time. 

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by Committee to Protect Journalists.

On September 13, officers with the detective branch of the Bangladesh police, in the Noakhali town of the southeast Chittagong division, arrested Nur Alam Chowdhury Pervez, brother of Shamsul Alam Liton, editor of the privately owned United Kingdom-based Weekly Surma newspaper, according to news reports, a report by The Weekly Surma, a Twitter thread by Bangladeshi editor Tasneem Khalil, and a person familiar with the case, who spoke to CPJ by phone on the condition of anonymity due to fear of reprisal.

The September 13 police first information report, a document that opens an investigation, accuses the U.K.-based Liton of spreading anti-government propaganda on social media platforms and alleges that Pervez conspires with Liton to create “confusion and agitation” among the public.

Separately, on September 9, police in Moulvibazar town in the northeast Sylhet division arrested Abdul Muktadir Manu, brother of Abdur Rab Bhuttow, a special correspondent for The Weekly Surma and head of the privately owned digital news platform London Bangla Channel, according to news reports and a person familiar with the case, who spoke to CPJ by phone on the condition of anonymity due to fear of reprisal.

“The Bangladesh government’s targeting of family members of critical journalists is an egregious form of retaliation that must not go unnoticed by its diplomatic partners and the international community,” said Beh Lih Yi, CPJ’s Asia program coordinator, in Frankfurt, Germany. “Authorities must swiftly and unconditionally release Nur Alam Chowdhury Pervez and Abdul Muktadir Manu and cease subjecting family members of foreign-based journalists to detention, harassment, and other forms of reprisal.”

The September 10 police first information report alleges that Manu is conspiring with the U.K.-based Bhuttow to remove Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina from power and “destroy the image of the state.”

Both police reports cited a section of the Bangladesh Code of Criminal Procedure that allows authorities to conduct warrantless arrests if there is “reasonable suspicion” that an individual may commit an offense.

The arrests came days before the prime minister left on official visits to the U.K. and the United States.

The person familiar with Pervez’ case told CPJ that he is also the brother of Hasina Akhter, host of the U.K.-based political affairs talk show Table Talk with Hasina Akhter, and Shah Alam Faruq, editor of the U.K.-based, privately owned digital news platform Shoja Kotha. On August 14, Liton published an editorial for The Weekly Surma calling on Hasina to hold government officials accountable for alleged money laundering.

CPJ’s source said they believed Pervez’ arrest was either retaliation for his sibling’s critical journalism or because of Liton’s organization of a protest in front of the British parliament in support of Bangladeshi victims of enforced disappearances on August 30. Pervez is the Noakhali district president of the Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal, a socialist party associated with Hasina’s ruling Awami League party.

Separately, the person familiar with Manu’s case told CPJ that they believed his arrest was in retaliation for Bhuttow’s critical journalistic work, most notably two interviews he published on the London Bangla Channel in August 2022 with retired lieutenant colonel Hasinur Rahman, who received international attention for his allegation that Bangladesh’s military intelligence secretly detained him on two separate occasions in 2011 and 2018.

That person told CPJ that Bhuttow received several anonymous threatening calls and messages following the publication of these interviews, warning him to stop his critical journalistic work.

Manu is a government servant with a local administrative unit associated with the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party, according to news reports and the person familiar with the case, who added that Moulvibazar jail authorities have denied Manu access to his family since his arrest.

The Bangladesh police, the Awami League, and the prime minister’s office did not respond to CPJ’s emailed requests for comment.

Previously, Bangladesh authorities detained Nusrat Shahrin Raka, sister of the U.S.-based Bangladeshi journalist Kanak Sarwar, from October 2021 to March 2022, and have repeatedly harassed the mother of Khalil, who is based in Sweden as the editor-in-chief of the Netra News website.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by Arlene Getz/CPJ Editorial Director.

On the afternoon of Wednesday, April 13, security personnel — including police and intelligence officers — arrested a group of at least nine journalists, working for seven local private media outlets and two international outlets, who were covering a fight between inmates and guards at a prison in the region’s capital, Hargeisa, according to multiple media reports and statements by press rights groups. Two of the detained journalists were released after a few hours in custody, according to the press rights groups and a statement by the Human Rights Center, an advocacy group.

Later that day, security personnel raided the Horn Cable TV offices, which was one of the stations that aired breaking news dispatches from the scene of the prison fight, and arrested another six journalists, according to statements made at a news conference by Sakaria Muhumed Ahmed, the chairperson of the Somaliland Journalists Association, a local media industry body; a joint statement by the Somali Journalists Syndicate (SJS) and the Somali Media Association, Mogadishu-based press rights organizations; and Abdikarim Saed Salah, a Horn Cable TV journalist who spoke to CPJ via messaging app. Abdikarim said that the men who raided the station were police officers.

The detained journalists’ colleagues said that none of them had been produced in court. CPJ was unable to independently verify the whereabouts of the 13 journalists who remain behind bars or what allegations police have leveled against them.

“These sweeping arrests expose the intolerance for independent reporting that has made Somaliland a hostile environment for members of the press,” said CPJ’s sub-Saharan African representative Muthoki Mumo. “Authorities must release all journalists detained for their work, allow them to go back to their jobs without interference, and ensure that security personnel no longer harass or detain journalists for doing their jobs.”

At a news conference, shared online by state media, Justice Minister Saleban Warsame Guled accused journalists of rushing to the scene to “report unconfirmed news.” At that same press conference, Ahmed Awale Yusuf, the head of Somaliland’s Custodial Corps, which is in charge of guarding the prison, vowed to file a case against “those who exaggerated the incident” for “damaging the moral of the soldiers and lying.”  

According to media reports, including by some the journalists’ employers; the statements; and the colleagues who spoke to CPJ, the nine journalists detained near the prison were:

• Naima Abdi Ahmed, founder of Carro Edeg Media
• Hassan Galaydh, a BBC correspondent
• Sagal Mustafe Hassan, a stringer for U.S. Congress-funded Voice of America (VOA)
• Mohamed Abdi Ilig, a reporter and chairperson of MM Somali TV
• Mohamed Jamal Jirde, a cameraperson with MM Somali TV
• Aidarus Mohamed, a reporter and regional bureau chief with the Mogadishu-headquartered Goobjoog Media Group
• Ahmed Nur Samrawi, a Bulsho TV reporter
• Ahmed Said Hassan Shimali, a Horn Cable TV reporter
• Ahmed Mohamud Yusuf, a Saab TV camera operator

Police and intelligence officers at the scene also tried to arrest another journalist, CBA TV reporter and manager Hamza Hirsi Hayd, but he was allowed to go free after the officers argued and failed to agree about whether he should be taken into custody, according to the journalist, who spoke to CPJ via messaging app, and another person familiar with his case who requested anonymity for safety concerns.

Sagal and Naima were released after about three to four hours in custody, according to the same sources, a VOA statement shared with CPJ via email, and Naima, who spoke to CPJ via messaging app. VOA said that authorities did not provide a reason for Sagal’s arrest.

Naima told CPJ she was held at the intelligence headquarters, where officers searched her phone and accused her of undermining national security and recording “sensitive matters.” She said that the officers beat and kicked her, including hitting her in the face. She said she suffered aches all over her body and on one of her hands, that eight of her teeth in “fragile condition,” and that she visited a local dentist who gave her painkillers.

After raiding the Horn Cable TV offices, security personnel arrested reporters Abdijabar Mohamed Hussein, Mohamed Suldan Ahmed, and Khalid Mohamed Aleeli, as well as camera operators Ayanle Abdi Buni, Mustafa Muhumed Abdi, and Abdifatah Mohamud Ismail, according to Abdikarim. Sakaria, at the April 13 press conference, said that security personnel also confiscated two cameras.

During the April 13 press conference, Sakaria said five journalists were held at the Hargeisa Central Police station while the whereabouts of the rest were unclear. The SJS reported that seven of the journalists were held at the intelligence headquarters while the rest were held at the central police station in Hargeisa, a report corroborated by Abdikarim and Abdishakur Dayib Mohamed, director of MM Somali TV, who spoke to CPJ via messaging app.

Bulsho TV director Ali Farah Hardi and Goobjoog Media’s deputy director Abdiaziz Ahmed Gurbiye told CPJ via messaging app that they were unsure where the journalists from their stations are detained.

CPJ’s calls and messages to Somaliland Police Commissioner General Mohamed Adan Saqadhi, Intelligence Chief Mohamed Salebaan Hasan, and Justice Minister Salebaan Warsame Guleed were not answered. CPJ could not immediately find contact information for the prison security head Ahmed Awale Yusuf. CPJ sent queries for comment via Facebook and Twitter to Somaliland’s ministries of justice, information, and foreign affairs but did not receive a response. A query sent via Twitter to the office of the Somaliland president was also unanswered.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by Committee to Protect Journalists.