The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has called the decision by the Banadir Regional Court to sentence a Somali journalist to six months in prison an “injustice.”
After months of frustrations and intimidation, the Deputy Director of Goobjoog Media Group, Abdiaziz Ahmed Gurbiye, was sentenced to six months in prison.
The court also slapped him with a fine of $200.
CPJ termed the sentence and the fine an “injustice” to not only Gurbiye but also other journalists around the country.
The organization also blasted the court and the Federal Government of Somalia for filing “false charges” against the journalist.
Muthoki Mumo, CPJ’s Representative in Sub-Sahara, said the court should have never “entertained the charges filed against Gurbiye in the first place.”
Consequently, Mumo asked the court to release Gurbiye immediately to repair the deep sense of betrayal the entire media community in Somalia currently feels.