Press watchdog slams Somalia media shutdown

Source: Reuters

MOGADISHU, June 7 (Reuters) - A press freedom watchdog on Thursday condemned the Somali government's closure of three independent broadcasters accused of supporting terrorism, saying the authorities' allegations were unproven.

HornAfrik, Shabelle and Koranic radio station IQK were shut down on Wednesday for the second time in six months on charges of supporting terrorism, violating the freedom of the press and opposing the Horn of Africa nation's interim government.

"The authorities hbave silenced important, independent voices on the basis of unsubstantiated accusations," Joel Simon, head of the Committee to Protect Journalists, said in a statement.

"We call on the Somali transitional government to allow these broadcasters back on the air immediately."

The broadcasters were temporarily closed when similar accusations were made in January, just weeks after the Somali government and its Ethiopian military allies seized the capital Mogadishu from a rival Islamist movement.

Read more: http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L07657296.htm