Radio technician Abdullahi Omar Gedi was killed yesterday in the Garsoor area of Galkayo in Puntland – a semi-autonomous region of Somalia, according to news reports.

Gedi, 25, was coming from work at Radio Daljir when he was attacked and stabbed six times, National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ) Puntland Coordinator Burhan Ahmed Dahir told IPI by phone from Galkayo today. He succumbed to his injuries while on the way to Galkayo General Hospital.

Police are investigating the case, but have not yet determined the motive of his killing. From the appearance of his wounds, it seems that Gedi was attacked by two men who approached from opposite sides. Gedi’s cell phone has been missing and switched off since the attack, prompting suspicion that his attackers were thieves.

IPI Interim Director Alison Bethel McKenzie said: “We offer our condolences to Abdullahi Omar Gedi’s family and acquaintances and call on the Puntland authorities to conduct a prompt and thorough investigation into his death, and to determine whether or not it was related to his work at Radio Daljir. We also reiterate our alarm at recent press freedom developments in Puntland, including the jailing, for six years, of a radio director.”

Press freedom in Puntland has deteriorated since regional President Abdirahman Mohamud Farole took office in January 2009.  As reported by IPI, Horseed Media radio director Abdifatah Jama Mire was sentenced, on 14 August, to six years in prison, a day after his station aired an interview with an Islamist rebel leader.

“According to the Puntland Constitution and the media law of Puntland, [Mire’s jailing] is a clear violation of press freedom,” said NUSOJ Puntland coordinator Dahir, who is also Secretary General of the Media Association of Puntland. “It is quite illegal.”

One day after Mire’s sentencing, the Puntland Information Ministry claimed it had previously warned the media not to interview any rebel leaders – a claim that Dahir says is entirely untrue.

In fact, the Puntland authorities issued a censorship notice two months ago, Dahir said. In it, they ordered all media including radio stations to submit their programming to the government ahead of publication or broadcast; however, media houses chose to ignore the constitutionally illegal order.

Until last month, when fighting broke out outside Bossaso between state security forces and the Islamist rebels, there were no repercussions for the media’s disobedience, Dahir said.
Since Mire’s jailing, only foreign media have spoken with the rebels, and local media are forbidden from travelling to areas where the rebels operate, Dahir said. In fact, local news outlets are afraid to cover the issue because of the way that Horseed director Mire was treated. “The journalists will not even get a fair trial, or a lawyer to defend them,” Dahir said.

Dahir added, “This government is not open for any criticism at all. Even ordinary people or community leaders cannot criticize the government, or they are taken to the station and arrested.”