Monday, November 19, 2007
Six radio stations -- excluding three shut down last week -- and HornAfrik TV, the only operational television station in the capital, went off air at 1200 GMT.
"The local stations decided to stop broadcasting for 24 hours starting at 3:00 pm to protest against the violations on independent media," said Mukhtar Mohamed Hirabe, the acting director of Radio Shabelle.
Hirabe hoped the boycott would highlight problems facing media in the lawless capital, where joint Ethiopian-Somali troops are battling Islamist-led insurgents.
"We need to show solidarity with other muzzled media houses," Said Tahlil, the director of HornAfrik, told AFP.
Last week, the Somali military ordered Radio Simba, Radio Banadir and Radio Shabelle off air, sparking a firestorm of protests from press rights watchdogs, the United Nations and the European Union.
Authorities have accused the independent media of fanning conflict in the capital, notably interviewing anti-government elements, broadcasting propaganda and involvement in the insurgency.
Ethiopia, whose forces are fighting alongside government troops in Somalia, said Somali media was awash with propaganda.
Authorities have defied calls by rights groups and foreign nations to relax its heavy-handed clampdown on press freedom, which has been choked by the conflict.
So far this year, at least eight journalists have been killed and dozens others either detained, ambushed or robbed, ranking Somalia the second deadliest country worldwide after Iraq for journalists, press groups say.
Bloody clan conflict and power struggles that intensified after the 1991 ouster of dictator Mohamed Said Barre have scuppered many bids to stabilise Somalia.
Source: AFP, Nov 19, 2007