Garowe, Puntland, Somalia 19 November 2015: The Media Association of Puntland condemns the arrest of the Jama Deperani in Garowe the administrative capital of Puntland state. The journalist was called to the central police station of Garowe today before noon and was arrested without disclosing any legal charges against him.
On 11th November the office of Puntland ministry of information in a letter dated 10th November 2015 ref_W/W/I/H/DH/260/2015 ordered Jama Deperani, a correspondent for London-based Somali Channel TV to halt his journalistic activity. http://mediapuntland.org/
MAP believes that the arrest of Jama is a politically motivated act of retaliation, as it came just days after the ban of ‘’Deperani show’’. Even worse the security forces have not disclosed any charges against Jama Deperani. Despite all the atrocities committed against journalism the state still remains without a comprehensive set of laws and plan of action to address the issues of safety and enabling environments for free journalism to take place. State institutions remain without procedures for dealing with the media.
“This is a deeply alarming trend of the arbitrary use of the security apparatus to restrict freedom of expression and free media. The move has all the hallmarks of another blatant attempt to gag free media in Puntland –Jama Deperani is one of the last remaining independent voices in the country,” said Faisal Khaliif, the Media Association of Puntland chairperson.
To the Puntland government: We call for the immediate release of Jama Deperani at the same time demand from the Puntland government to respect the fundamental human rights of freedom of expression and media freedom.
To the international Community: Its crucial and we call for the international community to intervene this act as the move violates the fundamental rights of freedom of expression. If this is tolerated then our values and protection of Human rights is undermined.
The immensity of need and the tempo of change in Somalia continue to hamper the drive towards effective and democratic governance in Puntland State. That is, even with the added advantage of the 17 years of experience and leadership. These challenges have varying degrees of intensity in different sectors and to different demographic groups.
