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A court in Hargeysa, the capital of the self-declared republic of Somaliland, has sentenced a newspaper editor to four months' imprisonment, according to official Radio Hargeysa.
Abdirahman Isma'il Umar, the editor of the Hargeysa-based daily newspaper Wartire, had been found guilty of "misreporting", the radio said on Wednesday. The Somaliland attorney-general had accused the editor of "fabrications and baseless reports".
A humanitarian source in Hargeysa told IRIN the paper had published an article claiming that Somaliland President Dahir Riyale Kahin had, during a recent visit to Djibouti, signed a secret pact with Djibouti President Ismael Omar Gelleh. According to Radio Hargeysa, "this was found to have been a fabrication and an example of irresponsible journalism".
The opposition Party SAHAN issued a statement on Thursday condemning the imprisonment of the journalist, and called upon the president of Somaliland not to encourage the suppression of press freedoms, the source added.
In June, the Somaliland authorities banned all private radio stations. A circular issued at the time by the information ministry said that until broadcasting regulations were laid down, there would be no private radio stations because of the "potential dangers" of such operations.
It went on to say: "No other voice can be heard on the airwaves except Radio Hargeysa, which is the national voice."
This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions
