Mogadishu (SD) – Abdiaziz Ahmed Gurbiye, the deputy director of Goobjoog Media in Mogadishu, has been sentenced to six months in prison and fined five million Somali shillings.

Gurbiye has been accused of reporting on the Somali government’s handling of COVID-19. The court said today’s verdict could be appealed.

Relatives of the reporter and freedom of speech organizations in Somalia have strongly opposed the ruling, underlining that the problematic nature of the ruling.

Abdalla Ahmed Mumin, secretary of SJS, Mohamed Abdiwahab of SOMA and Mohamed Ibrahim Ma’alimu, secretary of FESOJ, all opposed the verdict against Abdiaziz Ahmed Gurbiye, calling it injustice.

Gurbiye is a journalist who writes extensively on the political situation in Somalia, and his arrest comes at a time when freedom of expression is being undermined according to international human rights organizations.

Media organizations have previously called on the government to drop the case against the journalist.

Its worth noting that Hiigsi Radio Editor Mohamed Abdiwahab Abuja is also detained by the Somali government since the beginning of March this year, and he hasn’t been charged yet.