Call to protect freedom of press in Somaliland

Call to protect freedom of press in Somaliland

 – 28 April 2014 – We call upon the Somaliland government and the public to uphold freedom of press in Somaliland .

Both Haatuf and Somaliland Times are veteran news papers in Somaliland that deserve respect rather than forceful closure of its offices. Blocking the websites of both Haatuf and Somaliland Times is counter productive ; incites chain reaction and goes against the ethics of democratization processes in Somaliland republic.
On the other hand , news groups should
report fairly. They should not make names and must avoid their best not to publish personal attacks in their  news items . News papers have the responsibility of being fair to our country and to their readers. Personal  and public interests must be differentiated .

We don’t agree in oppressing the press , but would rather call for empowering journalism in the country through training and giving the media a breathing space in-order to let the press grow. In this context,  we call upon the press to adhere to the ethics of journalism and respect the heads of the government and the integrity of the family members of the ruling party.The government ,  in turn , should refrain from using force against the press.
We also think that the public have the duty in protecting freedom of speech in the country. The public have the right and duty to tell our Gov to respect freedom of speech in the country .
The best way of influencing government policies is through the ballot box. Somaliland public should not vote  for the politicians that are not abiding by the constitution . Somaliland people will have the opportunity  to punish corrupt and non-law-abiding politicians through the ballot box in the coming 2015 elections.
Free media is a corner stone in the democratization processes in Somaliland . We think that our government should respect freedom of speech in our young and emerging nation ; and protect journalism from those who want to gain politically through muzzling our speech.
Medeshi