HARGEISA (SD) -Somaliland’s opposition party Wadani has called the arrest of poet Abdirahman Adan Ibrahim (Abees), who was sentenced to a year and six months in prison by the Hargeisa District Court yesterday, politically motivated.

The Secretary-General of the Waddani Party, Khadar Hussein Abdi, asserted that the poet’s arrest was carried out without due process and legal procedures.

He mentioned that even if there were allegations against the poet made by his father, his arrest exceeded the legal limit of six months as per the law.

The 40-year-old Poet Abees was arrested on the 5th of this month after being accused by his father of being disobedient, and he was sentenced yesterday by the Hargeisa District Court to a year and six months in prison without any legal representation.

On the other hand, the poet’s mother, who spoke to MMTV, stated that her son was arrested by the government, and not by his father.

The poet had recently released a book criticizing the government, titled “Mayal,” which was published years after the government had banned it.