Somaliland Journalist Detained Without Charge Over Facebook Post

August 15, 2025 – Somalia – 

A Somaliland journalist, Ahmed Mohamud Dool, has been detained without charge since August 5, 2025, prompting the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) to call for his immediate and unconditional release.

Ahmed was taken into custody in Hargeisa after responding to a police summons at the Criminal Investigations Department headquarters. The Somaliland Journalist Association (SOLJA) and a local journalist familiar with the case confirmed his arrest. He runs a well‑followed Facebook page — with approximately 98,000 followers — reporting on local issues such as killings, insecurity, and protests.

His lawyer, Sacad Yasin, told CPJ that authorities linked the detention to a Facebook post. The post referenced comments by a local lawyer, though no further detail was provided. A Hargeisa court initially remanded Ahmed for four days, then extended his detention by another seven days pending investigation, though prosecutors have yet to formally charge him.

SOLJA described Ahmed’s detention as the twentieth such case in Somaliland this year, calling it an alarming pattern.

CPJ Africa Program Coordinator Muthoki Mumo stated that “Ahmed Mohamud Dool’s ongoing detention is the latest sign that Somaliland is becoming an unbearably hostile environment for the media”. CPJ reached out to Somaliland’s information ministry and the police for comment, but received no response.

Somaliland declared independence from Somalia in 1991, although it lacks international recognition.

Ahmed’s case highlights growing concerns about press freedom in Somaliland, especially regarding social media reporting. His continued detention without charges underscores how legal ambiguity and lack of due process contribute to an increasingly repressive atmosphere for journalists.

Reference – 

Somaliland journalist detained for days without charge over Facebook post