Tuesday June 18, 2024
Garowe (HOL) - Puntland military court sentenced five judges and prosecutors to various prison terms on Tuesday for releasing prisoners accused of piracy and being members of al-Shabab militants.
The court identified the sentenced officials as Lieutenant Colonel Kenadid Abdiaziz Ahmed, Lieutenant Colonel Abdirahman Warsame Jama, Major Sahal Abdi Artan, Major Abdiweli Mohamed Mohamud, and Major General Adan Ali Mohamud.
They received sentences ranging from two to five years of military imprisonment each.
The regional military court accused the officials of taking bribes to release the prisoners, but no lawyers were present to defend the accused military officials in court.
The lawyers for the officials told the media that they were denied adequate time to prepare a defense.
One of the lawyers, Mustafe Mohamed Jama, stated that the convictions were due to the officials' verdicts against people accused of piracy. He added that after announcing the court decisions, the officials were summoned to the Garowe presidential palace and subsequently taken to prison without any formal charges being brought against them.