“The
conviction of Mohamed Tahlil Mohamed and Abdi Yusuf Hassan in a U.S.
court sends a message of hope that justice is possible for journalists
who have been attacked, kidnapped, or even killed while reporting in
Somalia,” said CPJ Sub-Saharan Africa Representative Muthoki Mumo. “It
is high time that Somali journalists can equally find justice at home.
Somali authorities must end the high rates of impunity for crimes
against the press by ensuring accountability.”
The
two men were convicted on February 24 of hostage-taking, conspiracy,
providing material support for acts of terrorism, and other crimes that
carry potential life sentences, according to the Associated Press,
which said they are expected to be sentenced in September. Abdi is a
naturalized U.S. citizen and was a Somali government official at the
time of Moore’s abduction, and Mohamed worked as a Somali army officer,
that report said.
On January 21, 2012, Moore was taken hostage by
a group of Somali pirates while on assignment in the country. They
released him in September 2014 after receiving a ransom payment.
Previously, in 2018, a Canadian court convicted Ali
Omer Ader of participating in the 2008 abduction in Somalia of Canadian
journalist Amanda Lindhout, Australian photographer Nigel Brennan and
their fixer, Abdifatah Mohamed Elmi.
Somalia has topped CPJ’s Global Impunity Index—which spotlights countries with the worst records for prosecuting murderers of journalists—for the past eight years.
– Committee To Protect Journalists CPJ –
