Somali radio station boss shot dead
PHOTO | AFP | MOHAMED ABDIWAHAB
Somali people carry the coffin of Hassan Osman Abdi, Director of the Radio Shabele, in Mogadishu on January 29, 2012, after he was killed by gunmen in front of his home on January 28.
What you need to know:
- Over 40 reporters, editors, directors of media houses have been killed in city
MOGADISHU, Sunday
Mr Hassan Osman Abdi alias Fantastic, 30, the Chief Editor of Shabelle Radio, a popular independent broadcaster in Mogadishu, was killed Sunday evening in the Somali capital.
Two men armed with pistols attacked the journalist in front of his residence in South Mogadishu. The editor was rushed to Radio Shabelle Headquarters where he died afterwards.
Hassan was stopped by two men as he was entering his gate who then shot him several times, said Mohamed Moalim, a relative who stayed in the area.
“We don’t know who they are but the shot him mercilessly in the head and shoulders”, he said.
The deceased leaves behind a widow and three children.
Hassan is the third Shabelle editor to be assassinated in Mogadishu since 2007.
Somalia is one of the worst places for journalists to operate.
Over 40 reporters, editors and directors of the media houses were killed in the past two decades.
The latest casualty occurred on December 18, 2011.
Mr Abdisalam Sheikh Hassan alias Heis, a reporter with Horn Cable Television (HCTV), a mainly Somali news broadcaster, was gunned down by a man in Somali army uniform in Mogadishu.
The secretary-general of the National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ) Mohamed Ibrahim Pakistan has condemned the killing.
The Somali Exiled Journalists Association (SEJASS) also condemned the killing and called for thorough investigations.
“This killing is against press freedom and the Somali government must carry out true investigations to identify and bring to justice all those behind this assassination of Mr Hassan,” said SEJASS chairman Mohamed Osman Husein in a statement.
Mr Abdi, alias Fantastic, is the third Shabelle Radio editor killed in the capital since 2007.
Somalia, without a central government since 1991, is Africa’s worst place--and the world’s second-worst-- for journalists to practise in.
Over 40 journalists and media owners have been killed in the last two decades.
The latest incident occurred on December 18 where Mr Abdisalam Sheikh Hassan alias Heis was gunned down in Mogadishu by an armed man sporting Somali army uniform.
Mr Hassan was a reporter with Horn Cable Television (HCTV), a mainly Somali news broadcaster.
Recently, al-Shabaab militants seized equipment belonging to independent radio station Radio Afgoye and also abducted a reporter. His whereabouts remain unclear.
