Somali TV cameraman killed in Mogadishu

The National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ) condemns in the strongest terms possible the murder of a Somali Journalist in Mogadishu on Thursday 26 July 2018 “the latest in a series of attacks against the press in Somalia.

The incident happened around 3:10 PM local time, when a policeman on service a checkpoint near Peace Garden shot two times Abdirizak Kasim Iimaan on the head in Hamar Jajab neighborhood in Mogadishu.

He was pronounced dead few minutes after he was shot .Abdirizak Kasim Iimaan has been working with London based SBS TV in the Somali capital as cameraman and sometimes as technician.
SBS TV Director in Mogadishu Mohamud Dhakane Nur confirmed the killing of Abdirizak Kasim Iimaan and told NUSOJ that the late Abdirizak was riding a Bajaj when he was shot and killed by the Policeman.

We are at Madina hospital where the body of Abdirizak was brought to, indeed we don’t know yet why he was killed, Mohamud added.

The National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ) condemns in the strongest terms possible and calls for the Somali government to probe the incident urgently and bring the justice the policeman who behind the killing of an innocent cameraman.

“On behalf of NUSOJ, I am strongly condemning the assassination of cameraman Abdirizak Kasim Iimaan and I urge the Somali security agencies to launch urgent investigations relating to the shocking killing.” Mohamed Ibrahim Moalimuu the General Secretary of NUSOJ said

“Abdirizak was not armed, so there can’t be any excuse for the assassination of a civilian person who did not any violent crime, therefore we urge Somali authorities to leave no stone unturned in determining the motive for Abdirizak’s killing and finding and prosecuting the man who was responsible” Moalimuu added
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We share with the sadness families and friends of Abdirizak Kasim Iimaan and we journalists have to stand our unity, defend our rights and work together with harmony to achieve getting save environment in which we can work freely. Mahir Jama Aden President of NUSOJ said.

The killing of Abdirizak becomes the first incident in which a media worker was killed in Somalia in 2018. The security situation of journalists seemed to improving in the first half of the year, but this is another major setback of development of Somali media.