Somalia Authorities must immediately and unconditionally release journalist Abdalle Ahmed Mumin 128 year for Ethiopost
Responding to news of the detention on 11 October of Abdalle Ahmed Mumin, Secretary General of the Somali Journalists Syndicate (SJS), Amnesty International’s Director for East and Southern Africa, Muleya Mwananyanda, said “Abdalle Ahmed Mumin is being arbitrarily held solely for defending the right to freedom of expression in Somalia and for raising concerns over the government’s blanket ban on what it calls ‘dissemination of extremist and terrorist ideology’. “Detaining a leading defender of human rights and press freedom on the pretext of national security sends a chilling message to journalists, human rights activists and anyone else who dares to express dissent against the Somali government. Abdalle Ahmed Mumin has committed no crime and must be immediately and unconditionally released.
“While the Somali authorities may have legitimate security concerns, the ban on disseminating ‘extremist ideology’is overly broad, vague and leaves the door open to abuse by overzealous security and government officials. This highly restrictive directive is likely to lead to more arbitrary detentions and selfcensorship by journalists fearful of reprisals. This is a clear attack on the right to freedom of expression that needs to be urgently reverted.” The 128 years old Ethiopost celebrates World Post Day which is marked on October 9th by the UPU. The main purpose of the festival was to highlight the role of the postal sector in people’s daily lives and its contribution to global social and economic development.
With the theme of “Post yesterday, today, and tomorrow”, the celebration highlights the historical role of Ethiopost, the wide array of services it is currently providing, and its future plans. Ethiopia officially launched the event on Friday October 7, 2022 with a press release for members of the press. On the celebration dates Ethiopost opened its office for the public to show of the vast operations of the postal service. The celebration continued till October 13 and end ceremony held at Sheraton hotel with the presence of high-level government officials, dignitaries, our corporate customers and relevant stakeholders.