FAJ Condemns Assassination of Prominent Journalist in Somalia

MOGADISHU, Somalia, January 30, 2012/African Press Organization (APO)/ -- The Federation of African Journalists (FAJ), the African Regional Organisation of the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), has joined its affiliate, the National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ) in firmly condemning the assassination of prominent journalist and director of Shabelle Media Network, Hassan Osman Abdi.

According to NUSOJ, Hassan Osman Abdi was trailed from work place, shot and riddled with bullets by assassins travelling in a sedan on Saturday 28 January 2012. Abdi died on the way to Madina hospital.

“We strongly condemn the cowardly act of the perpetrators of this villainous crime and call on the Somali authorities to ensure that justice is done and that the perpetrators are hunted down and brought to book,” said Foster Dongozi, FAJ Vice President.

FAJ mourns the death of Hassan Osman Abdi who was a committed and highly respected personality in the field of journalism in Somalia and within the national journalists union, where he was Branch Secretary of the union's Banadir region branch.

“We are disturbed by the frequency at which journalists are being violently attacked in Somalia often resulting in a senseless loss of dear lives,' added Dongozi.

More than two dozen of journalists have been killed, scores arrested and several independent media houses shut down in the country since 2006.

“Killings of Somali journalists reflect the vulnerability of the media professionals in our country and the dangerous climate to which they are exposed,” said Abdi Aden Guled, NUSOJ Supreme Council Senior Vice President.