Somaliland: Court bans news website

Hargeisa (Somaliland.com) – Marodijeh Regional Court had today ordered Somaliland internet service providers to block a prominent news website known as Hadhwanaag.

The court ordered the immediate blockage of Hadhwanaagnews and its affiliated websites by the ISP companies in Somaliland. This comes after a complaint filed against the media group by the Somaliland Central Bank Governor, Mr Ali Ibrahim Baghdadi.

The Central Bank Governor sued the news website over an opinion article published by the website last month which accused the Central Bank Governor of being corrupt. The article is reported to have alleged that the Central Bank Governor has erected two multi-storey buildings in Hargeisa just after one year in office.

In a Facebook post, Mr Ali Ibrahim Baghdadi denied the corruption allegations, indicating that the buildings were planned before his appointment in early 2018. He also foregrounded the fact that he had worked decades in UAE and Canadian banks, and that he has properties in Canada and can obtain loans from Canadian banks.

Somaliland Journalists Association mentioned in a tweet that the association is very much disappointed about the ban placed on this popular news website in Somaliland without court appearances.