Thursday December 10, 2020
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HARGEISA (HOL) - Astan TV Director Abdirahman Yusuf Mohamed has been released barely a month into a five year jail term by authorities in Somaliland.
Sources in Hargeisa said the cable TV manager regained his freedom following a pardon by President Muse Bihi. Maroodi-Jeh Appeals Court sentenced Mohamed last month to five years in jail following his arrest in July.
There was no official confirmation of charges against the businessman. Astan cable which has been operating in Somaliland for about two years was also fined two million Somaliland shillings and its operations suspended.
The businessman was reported to be ill while in detention leading to local and international calls for his release.
The release of Mohamed who was staring at five years behind bars came barely three days after the EU upped its calls against arbitrary arrests and sentencing of journalists.
EU ambassador to Somalia Nicolas Berlanga said during the just concluded Somalia Partnership Forum that putting journalists in prison ‘is no longer acceptable’.