HARGEISA - A Somaliland court sentenced four journalists on Sunday to jail terms ranging from two to two-and-a half years for defaming the countryÂ’s president and revoked the licence of the paper that employed them. Three of them had been detained since January while the fourth was sentenced in absentia. They worked for the local daily HAATUF and were accused of defaming SomalilandÂ’s President Dahir Rayale Kahin.| Doesn't really seem to matter much who's in charge in what country in Africa, does it -- 'freedom of the press' remains an unknown concept. |
‘The international community needs to speak out on the conduct of justice in Somaliland,’ it said in a statement. ‘I call upon the government to lift the ban on HAATUF’s publication and allow the media to flourish as part of an ongoing democratisation process,’ it quoted its chairman Hassan Shire Shaikh as saying.