Saturday, August 17, 2013
A Somali military official says the government has executed a man
convicted of murdering a journalist, the first such execution in a
country where those who kill media workers often evade justice.Col.
Abdullahi Muse Keyse, a spokesman for Somalia's military court, said
Saturday that Aden Sheikh Abdi, who was accused of belonging to the
Islamic extremist rebels al-Shabab, was killed by firing squad early
Saturday in the capital, Mogadishu.
Last month a Mogadishu court found Abdi guilty of the murder late last year of radio reporter Hassan Yusuf Absuge.
Tom
Rhodes, the East Africa consultant for the Committee to Protect
Journalists, said the execution would help end impunity in Somalia, one
of the most dangerous places for media workers. At least 18 Somali
journalists were killed last year.