Somaliland Police Arrest Abdimalik Coldoon, Well-known Journalist and Activist

Somaliland police have detained Abdimalik Muse Coldoon, an independent journalist and blogger, at Burao city on Wednesday evening, April 17, 2019.

His family has confirmed in Social Media that he was arrested while he was driving his car at Burao central market.

His sister Sacdiya Coldoon has written on her Facebook account that “Police put Abdimalik in the custody”. She claimed that the police tortured him by butt-stroking and beating him with sticks at his head. No other reliable sources have confirmed these allegations and no one is allowed to see him right now.

Other reliable sources confirmed that hours later he was tranafered to Hargeisa prison.

Mr. Abdimalik Coldoon returned two months ago to Burao from the territories of Somali regional state of Ethiopia where he was hiding five months away from Somaliland jail.

In a TV program recently aired on HoryaalTV, Togdheer regional police commissioner Mr. Ahmed Ali Shabel confirmed that the police were in search for the capture of the popular journalist. Although the governor of the Togdheer region Mr. Hamse Mohamed Abdi dismissed the existence of any warrant of arrest against Mr. Coldoon.

There is no clarification about the crimes this journalist is accused of. But there are two controversial topics, local press doubted that are the reasons behind his arrest. They are the topics that Mr. Coldoon was recently meddling in:

1. Criticizing President Muse Bihi and his administration and
2. Investigating the “Controversial Abaarso School”.

It is not the first time that Mr. Abdimalik is apprehended by the Somaliland government. In 2017, he spent more than three months in Hargeisa prison after returning from Mogadishu, covering the Somalia election events at that time.

On April 8, 2017, Hargeisa regional court sentenced him for two-year jail term after Somaliland government accused him of violating the sovereignty of the Republic of Somaliland and offending the prestige of Somaliland leaders. But fortunately, Somaliland president Mr. Ahmed Siilaanyo paroled him after community groups pleaded the president to intervene and preserve the freedom of speech.

Coldoon’s supporters on social media criticized the arrest and demanded his immediate release. Some reminded the government that “Freedom of Speech” is one of the most important pillars of democracy which Somaliland’s historic struggle was based on against the oppressive Siyad Barre regime.

On the other hand, the Somaliland Journalists Association lately condemned Coldoon saying that he deserves punishment. “We are calling on the government to protect the nation’s sovereignty and to prosecute Coldoon to the fullest extent of the law so that other journalists think twice before committing unlawful acts,” said Mohamed Abdi Jama, Chairman of Somaliland Journalists Association (SOLJA). Which Mr. Coldoon blamed the Association as a double-standard, government-affiliated association and not representing the interests of the free press.

The president Muse Bihi Abdi promised tolerance calling on law enforcement bodies to practice restraint.

In late February, at the concluding session of the ruling party’s central council convention in Borama, the President promised tolerance to criticism and to freedom of speech.

“We bow to the independence of the Somaliland justice system, We accept that we, the ruling party and the government, should be more tolerant to criticism and to freedom of expression,” he said.

A Journalist Abdimalik was a champion for the unprivileged members of Somali society and shares their stories with a global audience with the view to positive change and empowerment. He has earned the respect of a generation due to his selfless fundraising efforts and his discussing of social issues that are considered taboo in Somalia, such as people living with HIV/AID and FGM.

Even though Somaliland’s Constitution clearly protects the freedom of speech and the press but this is not the first time that activists, journalists, poets or editors are arrested for disseminating information which the government claims it as against the sovereignty of the Republic.

Read also:
Police Defy Somaliland President’s Tolerance Call of Police Restraint
Court Acquits Somaliland Poet after 44 days in Police Custody

Somaliland.com