Arrests in Somaliland: Authorities Must End the Crackdown on Independent Journalism

Hargeisa, Somaliland – Since the start of the year, the arrests of journalists have multiplied dangerously in Somaliland. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) is calling on the authorities of the territory to let journalists do their work and to put an end to this repression of independent journalism.

Journalism is under severe strain in Somaliland, a self-declared independent state not recognized by the international community. This is illustrated by the October 7th appeal court conviction of Abdiaziz Saleban Sulub, a journalist with the online television channel KF Media TV, who was sentenced to one year in prison and a fine of 2 million Somali shillings (approximately 3,000 euros) for posting excerpts of a governor’s speech.

Although he was released the next day after his sentence was “bought out” by the Somaliland Journalists Association (SOLJA)—a practice permitted by law for prison sentences of one year or less—he should never have spent a single day in detention nor been sentenced to a prison term for doing his job.

Accused by the governor of Togdheer, in central Somaliland, of having cut passages from one of his speeches and thus altering the message—though in fact, he did not distort its meaning—the journalist spent almost a month in prison. Arrested on September 12 by police in Burao, the capital of Togdheer, he appeared in court on September 24 and was acquitted three days later. However, he was kept in detention until the appeal decision, which sentenced him to one year in prison.

“This conviction of a journalist is a sad illustration of the increased repression faced by journalists in Somaliland, where around twenty journalists have been arrested or detained since the beginning of the year,” said Sadibou Marong, Director of RSF’s Sub-Saharan Africa Bureau. “The government of Somaliland must absolutely put an end to this crackdown on independent journalism, which has intensified since it came to power in December 2024. We call on it to guarantee that journalists can now do their work without fear of retaliation.”

Surge in Journalists Targeted by Police

Since January 2025, the government of Somaliland President Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi, who has been in power since December 2024, has drastically silenced dissenting voices, particularly through arrests and summonses by the judicial police. The year 2025 has been marked by a growing number of arrests of journalists in Somaliland: since the beginning of the year, RSF has recorded 21, 7 of which lasted more than two days.

In September alone, nine journalists were victims of arbitrary arrests in the region. On September 27, Somaliland police in Erigavo briefly arrested four reporters who were covering a visit by the Somaliland Minister of Education to schools in the city. They were beaten, including being kicked, by the police, before being detained at the local police station for seven hours and then released without charge. The other journalists arrested were detained without reason and released the same day.

Former President of Somaliland Journalists Association Forced into Exile

These growing threats against journalism in the region forced the former president of the Somaliland Journalists Association, Mohamoud Abdi Jama (alias Xuuto), to flee the territory after he criticized the government.

On the morning of June 19, the journalist responded to a summons from the office of the commander of the Somaliland Criminal Investigations Department (CID). The day before, in a post on Facebook, he had questioned the handling of an agreement between the Somaliland government and the United States Africa Command (AFRICOM).

“The commander showed me my posts and wanted to place me in detention, without a warrant. A minister called him to demand my arrest,” the founder of the Waaheen daily told RSF. While the commander asked him to wait by the door, Mohamoud Abdi Jama managed to leave the premises discreetly, returned home to hastily pack a backpack, and left the country.

Contacted by RSF, the Minister of Information, Ahmed Yasin Sheikh Ali Ayanle, did not respond to our questions regarding this worrying deterioration of conditions for practicing journalism in Somaliland.