Mogadishu’s independent Shabelle radio station announced on Wednesday it was shutting down after security forces surrounded its offices and opened fire, destroying equipment over the past two days. ”We are sadly announcing that our media network has ceased all its media activity after forces from the transitional government of Somalia randomly fired at our premises,” Shabelle said in a statement posted on its website.
“The damage caused by heavy gunfire directed at our premises is immense so we can’t continue operating our radio station. All the equipment, including our main studio, are destroyed,” the statement added. Shabelle chairman Abdimaalik Yusuf Mohamud said: “We are also ceasing our operations because of the increasing threat to our staff and our building.”
“This is totally inhuman and a savage attack on Somalia’s struggle to freedom of speech,” he added in a statement released after the station shut. The security forces, who last weekend stormed the station and detained 17 staff, have accused one of Shabelle’s journalists of hurling a grenade at a police patrol.
Global media watchdogs have assailed the government, saying its crackdown on the independent press has made Somalia the world’s second dangerous place for journalists after Iraq. At least seven journalists have been killed in Somalia this year and media watchdogs have urged all sides to ensure better protection for reporters, several of whom have also been wounded or robbed.
(Source: AFP/R Netherlands Media Network Weblog)