Mohamed Bulbul arrested in Mogadishu after covering case of woman allegedly being tortured in prison
A journalist who covered the case of a woman who said she was being tortured in prison was detained and beaten with pistols by Somali authorities, along with two others, for his reporting for the Guardian.
Mohamed Bulbul was arrested with the journalists Abdihafid Nor Barre and Abdishakur Mohamed Mohamud on Friday evening while in a restaurant in the centre of the Somali capital, Mogadishu. They said they were assaulted by members of Somalia’s US-trained counter-terrorism police unit and taken to be questioned by police. All three were released in the early hours of Saturday morning.
Media outlets and MPs said the arrests were unlawful and politically motivated. They come amid an intensifying crackdown as public anger grows with the ruling establishment, and the presidential term is due to end on 15 May.
Abdirahman Abdishakur, an MP and leader of the opposition Wadajir party, condemned the arrests of the journalists. He wrote in a post on X that the president of Somalia’s administration “appears consumed by fear, confusion as the end of its mandate approaches”.
