The End of Secessionism in Somalia. Part I–Journalist Nur Ahmed Gagab Injured by Riyaale’s Guards

By: Muhammad Shamsaddin Megalommatis

[ Posted On: 2009-03-13 ]

Somalia’s chances of pacification, reunification and rehabilitation are nowadays high. It would therefore be essential for Somalis of different backgrounds, ideas and lifestyles, who realize that Somalia’s Unity is the foremost ideal of our times, to unite and come up with suggestions for possible ways and methods, efforts and processes to be explored and pursued in order to achieve this goal.

The weakness of the collapsing tyranny of Riyaale, the shameful Abyssinian puppet of Hargeisa, has been made public very clearly last Wednesday, March 11, when Riyaale’s gangsters, realizing that their days are numbered, senselessly attacked and gravely injured Nur Ahmed Gagab, a highly esteemed Somali video journalist.

This brutal and barbaric act, performed without any reason against a harmless journalist on assignment, demonstrates the great panic that has invaded the guards and the accomplices of the tyrant Riyaale, Somali History’s most reviled high traitor.

Starting a new series focused on the developments in Northern Somalia, a few weeks before the presidential elections, I republish a report posted under the title “President Riyaale’s Palace Guards Beat Journalist to Unconscious” in the informative and patriotic Somali portal Xogtamaanta.

Quite ironically, as if anticipating the aforementioned unfortunate development, an Islamabad-based Somali intellectual, Mahad Nuux Muumin, had recently published a brief but quite meaningful article entitled “Freedom of the Press Means Consideration of the Public Opinion within a Democratic Society” that I also republish herewith.

The international community and, in particular, the International Federation of Journalists should step up their reactions, isolating the Somaliland Riyaale gang, preventing fraud in the forthcoming elections, and thus opening the way for Riyaale’s impeachment and trial at the ICJ.

President Riyaale’s Palace Guards Beat Journalist to Unconscious
http://www.xogtamaanta.com/page18.html

Hargeisa, Somaliland (Xogtamaanta.com) - Video journalist at Somaliland Space Channel was treated in hospital after an unprovoked assault by number of the presidential guards in the street runs at President Riyaale’s palace in Hargeisa.

On Wednesday morning, around ten o’clock, on 11th March, Nur Ahmed Gagab, who is one of respected video journalists at Space Channel was attacked and kicked, punched and beaten with gun butts, and was knocked to the ground unconsciously.

“I was walking along the side of the street that runs in front of the presidential palace, on the side of the security barriers, when one of the presidential guards approached me and shouted at me, and swore at me, and then ordered me to stop and to cross the road onto the other side” said Mr. Gagab explaining how the beatings started.

“When I asked the guard why he was telling me to cross the road when there is traffic and I was on pedestrian side, I was knocked down to the ground and beaten with gun butts by number of guards who attacked me without a reason” Said Mr. Gagab who suffered with bad injuries to his neck after badly beaten.

The journalist was on assignment and was just going by the President Riyaale’s palace when he was deliberately attacked and beaten to the ground.

“I was walking behind the journalist, who has done nothing to the guards and didn’t even provoked them when they viciously attacked him and knocked down to the ground and kept beating him until he became unconscious” Said an eyewitness who was shocked by the merciless beatings.

Somaliland’s local journalists complain about the culture of abuse they encounter when they are in or round the presidential palace and these latest beatings of the video journalist add the fear that the order of beating journalists in Somaliland comes from the top.

These incidents are just becoming norm for President Riyaale’s palace guards and president Riyaale himself does not care about punishing those initiators, but in fact so brazen and arrogant about it.

Xogtamaanta.com and Somali media in general are appalled by the ill-treatment that the Somaliland journalist receive from the Somaliland police and the Presidential palace who are both accused of beating journalists and sometimes arresting without charges or a reason.

Xogtamaanta strongly condemns the vicious attacks on journalists, like Nur Ahmed Gagab and others who suffered as result of merciless treatment.

We are calling President Riyaale and the UDUB led government to stop this dangerous trend and respect the constitutional rights of freedom of speech and freedom of movement. Journalist beatings and illegal arrests must be stopped now.

Freedom of the Press Means Consideration of the Public Opinion within a democratic Society
By Mahad Nuux Muumin
http://www.togaherer.com/details.asp?id=762&dt=articles

Freedom of the press does not mean to publish simply, anything and everything, as we know this centuries world passed time sword and gun, it is the time of the pen, because pen mightier then sword and gun, but if we use pen the bad side it causes big distraction freedom of the press is illegal review as well as to concentrate public opinion, actually it is not bad to condemn the government but it is shameful to insult, the responsible people.

Some of the people they get wrong the freedom press, democratic society they have the right to pressure the government to take care public interests, it is obvious the press and government have always delicate a full of trouble, and the reason is there is no trust between government and free press, we are young democratic society, and still the world is not recognize our country, the problems effected free press, is lack of education, there is some editors, who are press owners there conscious is racist, and misery, free press means to work your community as sacrifice, and some of them they work hierocracy nepotism, every webpage in internet belong Somaliland press, they divided two parts some of the support government and others opposition parts, and it indicates us mostly they are lack of education, my Allah bless them, there is a less editors consider public opinions , and work the society fairly.

The other hand is the mistake of the Government we see the media every day a reporter arrested with out reason, it is essential government to allow the reporters to perform their factions and allow there free access, the free press they must keep the principle of the journalist, my attitude is not towards any one but it is common advice and I am suggesting Somaliland free press to be realistic.

Based in Islamabad, Pakistan, Mahad Nuux Muumin can be reached here: mahad_nuux09@hotmail.com

Article Source: http://www.afroarticles.com/article-dashboard

About The Author: Dr. Muhammad Shamsaddin Megalommatis - is Orientalist, Assyriologist, Egyptologist, Iranologist, Islamologist, Historian and Political Scientist. Dr. Megalommatis, 52, is the author of 12 books, dozens of scholarly articles, hundreds of encyclopedia entries, and thousands of articles. He speaks, reads and writes more than 15, modern and ancient, languages.

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