Eight people arrested for protesting against rising electricity bills in Berbera

Somaliland national human rights commision confirmed that Somaliland security forces arrested eight people in Berbera for protesting against rising electricity bills in the city which triggered a public anger in recent days.

The police told the human rights commision that the detainees were arrested while carrying placards with words against the city’s electricity company and some of them were live streaming on their facebook accounts during their protest.

Meanwhile, the detainees clarified to the human rights commission that they received a letter informing them that they were sentenced to 30 days in prison yet they did not appear before the court. The country’s national human rights commision in strong terms criticized their arrest and urged police and judicial systems to give justice for the prisoners.

On Thursday, some of the electricity companies in Hargeisa announced an increase in electricity bills from 0.5 to 0.84 per unit which later the country’s energy commission had suspended.