Two Somaliland radio journalists arrested on 13 July for allegedly inciting inter-clan violence with a broadcast appeared in court for the third time on Tuesday, Hargeisa-based Media Rights Somaliland (MeRiS) told the International Press Institute (IPI) on Wednesday. At the hearing, witness Mohamed Nur Kaahin, a Gebilay province elder, testified that nothing in the defendants’ 10 July radio broadcast was responsible for inciting the inter-clan violence that occurred the next day,

Mohamed Osman Mire and Ahmed Suleyman Dhuhul, the director and news editor of Radio Horyaal, respectively, were arrested at the radio station on 13 July after covering incidents relating to clan violence on the border between the Gabiley and Awdal provinces in west Somaliland. Radio Horyaal had covered failed talks between Gebilay elders and the president.

Two days later, Somaliland’s attorney-general successfully requested that the courts shut down Horn Cable TV for its coverage of the ensuing violence.  HCTV was closed down for allegedly “inciting violence” and “spreading false information.”

The officers who arrested the two Radio Horyaal journalists reportedly did not have a warrant, and the men have not been charged with any crime – which makes their detention illegal under the Somaliland press law, according to Media Rights Somaliland (MeRiS) director Mukhtar Hassan.

According to MeRiS, several journalists and human rights activists were in attendance in court Tuesday.  Mohamed Nur Kaahin, one of several witnesses called, is a Gebilay elder who was present during the meeting with President Dahir Riyale that preceded the inter-clan violence.

After giving details of the presidential meeting, Mohamed noted that the discussion had ended without result. He observed that Radio Horyaal’s broadcast was not responsible for inciting violence.

IPI is concerned that the arrest and detention of Mire and Dhuhul, and the suspension of HCTV, are an attempt to clamp down on the independent media in the run up to presidential elections in September. It calls on the Somaliland authorities to immediately release the two journalists and reopen HCTV.