Somali journalists' group denounces police "threats"

An badociation of Somali journalists on Sunday criticized police actions that it said threatened to shoot reporters trying to visit a car bomb near Parliament. warning that the "situation is worsening" for the press.

Police at a checkpoint near the site of the Saturday bombing in Mogadishu, which killed eight people and allegedly claimed by the jihadist Al-Shabaab group, arrested a group of journalists from international press groups, including Jama Nur Ahmed from Al Jazeera.

"When the journalists tried to explain to the police their reporting mission, a policeman fired two bullets (in the air) and then pointed his rifle at Jama Nur's head, according to Jama Nur Ahmed and two other colleagues" , said Somali journalists. Syndicate (SJS) said in a statement.

The group also included reporters from Reuters, AFP and the Turkish Anadolu news agency, followed by a second wave of journalists who were also denied access.

"The journalists said that the police had told them that they had received orders restricting the coverage of the journalists at the scene of the attacks and that they had threatened that any journalist trying to film should be killed by shooting or that his equipment is broken, which would result in the return of journalists back from the scene, "said the SJS.

He accused the Somali police of treating journalists "like criminals", preventing them from doing their reporting work on events in the country.

"This is a symptom of the deteriorating situation of journalists in Somalia".

On May 14, police confiscated reporters' materials, arrested a cameraman, and beat two other people to try to report on another explosion in Mogadishu.

AFP has documented several incidents in recent months in which journalists have been intimidated, threatened and their equipment seized while attempting to cover the Shabaab attacks.

The SJS has called on the Ministry of Information, the Police Commissioner and the Prime Minister's Office to open an investigation "and to take appropriate action against those responsible".

"We call on the highest positions in the government, including the prime minister's office, to intervene to allow journalists to report freely and accurately, without fear," the statement said.