Journalist Abdallah Mumin released on bail

Somali journalist Abdallah Ahmed Mumin was released on bail after appearing in a Mogadishu court. The Somali Journalists Syndicate’s (SJS) secretary-general was detained last week on security-related charges while at the airport and en route to Kenya. According to the minister of information.

On his charge sheet, the country’s attorney general office filed charges against Abdalle Mumin at the behest of the information ministry, which issued a directive prohibiting Somali journalists from covering news about al-Shabab.

However, a statement issued by Somalia’s information ministry on Wednesday claimed that Mumin’s arrest “has no charges related to his work as a journalist,” which contradicts the charge sheet by the attorney general.

The attorney general’s office asked the court for 45 days to investigate the case. The Somali Journalists Syndicate has maintained that Mumin was arrested on “trumped-up” charges designed to stifle free media.

His release is welcomed by human rights defenders, including Human Rights Watch, the Committee to Protect Journalists and Amnesty International. Since his arrest, they have called on Somali authorities to drop the charges against Mumin.