Wednesday July 8, 2020
MOGADISHU (HOL) - A policeman who shot dead a street vendor following a quarrel over a piece of cigarette has been slapped with the death sentence by a military court in Mogadishu.
The Court Martial of First Instance found constable Nur Dahir Gedi guilty of killing the vendor identified as Omar Hassan Moalim in Hamar Jajab district in Mogadishu.
According to the prosecution, the defendant pulled the trigger killing Gedi instantly after the two argued over a cigarette. The incident happened on June 18.
Court judge Major Hassan Shute while delivering the verdict noted the defendant had the right of appeal within 30 days.
The sentencing of the police officer comes barely three days after a soldier was handed the death penalty by the same court for killing two people in June.
The court held that the soldier indiscriminately fired at the two at the compound of their homes in the pretext of enforcing the dusk to dawn curfew ordered by the government.