Radio reporter held by Al-Shabaab militia for past three days

Reporters Without Borders joins its partner organisation in Somalia, the National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ), in expressing deep concern about the fate of Ali Yusuf Adan, a journalist who was arrested on 21 February in an area controlled by the Islamist militia Al-Shabaab. “Al-Shabaab, which we have already classified as a ‘Predator of Press Freedom,’ has added yet another misdeed to the long list of violations of free expression that it has already committed,” Reporters Without Borders said. “We condemn this arrest and call for the journalist’s immediate release.” Adan is Radio Somaliweyn’s correspondent in Wanlaweyn, the southern region where he was reportedly arrested over a comment he made on 20 February about a murder by an Al-Shabaab member. He is now believed to be in a prison in the nearby city of Merca. We are unfortunately still without news of him. For more information, see the NUSOJ release: http://www.nusoj.org/?zone=/unionactive/view_article.cfm&HomeID=154390