A journalists’ labor union in Somalia said Wednesday an al-Jazeera reporter was among four people detained en route to Mogadishu by Somali intelligence.
Mohamed Ibrahim Mo’alimu of the National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ) told Anadolu Agency the Somali National Intelligence and Security Agency, NISA, arrested Hamza Mohamed plus a photographer, fixer and driver on Wednesday morning.
The group was detained while heading to Mogadishu from Jowhar in the Middle Shabelle region.
NISA does not comment on arrests and no reason has been given for the group’s detention.
The journalists’ union called on the Somali government to release the group “urgently” and condemned the reporter’s arrest.
“We call on the Somali government to release the journalist and stop actions against freedom of expression”, Mo’alimu said.
Meanwhile, Mogadishu-based newspaper Xog-Ogal’s editor, Abdi Adan Gulled, was released from NISA custody in Mogadishu after three days’ detention.
Gulled was arrested on Oct. 15 and NISA closed down the newspaper’s office in the Somali capital. Founded in 1991, Xog-Ogal is the longest-running newspaper in Somalia.