United States has joined hands with tons of social media users, journalists, and scholars to condemn the outburst by NISA against a Somali journalist working for Voice of America (VOA).
Somali authorities accused the journalist, Harun Maruf, of “undermining the sovereignty” of the East African nation.
Recently, Maruf, who is also a renowned author, unveiled a program known as “Investigative Dossier” on VOA.
He uses the program to interview guests from diverse backgrounds. He has also interviewed senior defectors from the extremist group, Al-Shabaab.
Several of his guests have said unsavory things about senior officials working for the Federal Government of Somalia (FGS) by accusing them of sympathizing with Al-Shabaab.
While rallying to Maruf’s defense, the United States called him a true “professional.”It is worth noting that the US is one of the ravaged nation’s major developmental partners.
For this reason, its comments on the issue are not to be taken lightly.
In the past, Somalia has been criticized for its poor record that includes violating human rights, censoring the media, increased police brutality, and extrajudicial killing of government critics.