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| Version 2 | Version 3 |
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| Judge releases Somali journalist jailed for interviewing alleged rape victim | Judge releases Somali journalist jailed for interviewing alleged rape victim |
| (8 days later) | |
| A Somali journalist jailed for interviewing an alleged gang-rape victim spoke of his relief on Sunday after a judge ordered his release. | A Somali journalist jailed for interviewing an alleged gang-rape victim spoke of his relief on Sunday after a judge ordered his release. |
| Abdiaziz Abdinur Ibrahim had been sentenced to a year in prison, later reduced to six months, for talking to Lul Ali Osman Barake about her claim that she was raped by five men in military fatigues. | Abdiaziz Abdinur Ibrahim had been sentenced to a year in prison, later reduced to six months, for talking to Lul Ali Osman Barake about her claim that she was raped by five men in military fatigues. |
| "I am happy today like the day I was born," Ibrahim, 25, told the Guardian as he was transported in a four-wheel drive vehicle from Mogadishu central prison to his home. | "I am happy today like the day I was born," Ibrahim, 25, told the Guardian as he was transported in a four-wheel drive vehicle from Mogadishu central prison to his home. |
| The case has prompted international condemnation over how Somalia's fledgling institutions approach victims of sexual violence and freedom of the press. | The case has prompted international condemnation over how Somalia's fledgling institutions approach victims of sexual violence and freedom of the press. |
| Barake had also been sentenced to a year in prison but this was quashed on appeal. | Barake had also been sentenced to a year in prison but this was quashed on appeal. |
| After her release Barake spoke of her anger with the police and courts over the way she had been treated. "I was a victim and I was given a one-year jail term. No female victim in Somalia will feel able to talk about this. Rape victims will stay silent in their home and not tell anyone," she told the Guardian. | After her release Barake spoke of her anger with the police and courts over the way she had been treated. "I was a victim and I was given a one-year jail term. No female victim in Somalia will feel able to talk about this. Rape victims will stay silent in their home and not tell anyone," she told the Guardian. |
| There was uncertainty over the exact nature of Ibrahim's offence, with charges ranging from fabricating a defamatory story to entering a home without permission to misleading an interviewee for an article that was never published. | There was uncertainty over the exact nature of Ibrahim's offence, with charges ranging from fabricating a defamatory story to entering a home without permission to misleading an interviewee for an article that was never published. |
| Family members and colleagues had expressed fears for his health during his two months in Mogadishu's overcrowded prison, saying that he was forced to sleep standing up and was suffering from a stomach ulcer and skin allergy. | Family members and colleagues had expressed fears for his health during his two months in Mogadishu's overcrowded prison, saying that he was forced to sleep standing up and was suffering from a stomach ulcer and skin allergy. |
| Hundreds of local journalists, press freedom activists and human rights campaigners packed Somalia's supreme court on Sunday to hear chief judge Aidid Abdullahi Ilkahanaf consider Ibrahim's latest appeal. | Hundreds of local journalists, press freedom activists and human rights campaigners packed Somalia's supreme court on Sunday to hear chief judge Aidid Abdullahi Ilkahanaf consider Ibrahim's latest appeal. |
| "After having seen the way the 3 March verdict against the journalist was done, and having seen that the appeals court ordered the release of the rape victim and that the journalist remain in jail for six months without giving proper reason, the supreme court here decides to fully release the journalist Abdiaziz Abdinur Ibrahim from prison," the judge said as the court quashed all the charges against Ibrahim. | "After having seen the way the 3 March verdict against the journalist was done, and having seen that the appeals court ordered the release of the rape victim and that the journalist remain in jail for six months without giving proper reason, the supreme court here decides to fully release the journalist Abdiaziz Abdinur Ibrahim from prison," the judge said as the court quashed all the charges against Ibrahim. |
| Smiling journalists, relatives and friends of Ibrahim celebrated outside the courtroom. They included Ibrahim's girlfriend, whom he is set to marry this year, but she did not speak to the media. | Smiling journalists, relatives and friends of Ibrahim celebrated outside the courtroom. They included Ibrahim's girlfriend, whom he is set to marry this year, but she did not speak to the media. |
| Waving to the crowd, Ibrahim said: "All praise be to Allah alone. I thank Somali journalists, my colleagues, the international community for their tireless efforts to make me free. You can see I am free, I am free. Thanks to you all of you." | Waving to the crowd, Ibrahim said: "All praise be to Allah alone. I thank Somali journalists, my colleagues, the international community for their tireless efforts to make me free. You can see I am free, I am free. Thanks to you all of you." |
| Many of the Mogadishu-based journalists accompanied Ibrahim to his home in Wadajir district in a show of solidarity. | Many of the Mogadishu-based journalists accompanied Ibrahim to his home in Wadajir district in a show of solidarity. |
| The National Union of Somali Journalists welcomed the decision and described it as a historic day. "It seems that the Somali justice system is coming to reality and I hope that no journalist inside Somalia will be arrested for his work," said secretary-general Mohamed Ibrahim. | The National Union of Somali Journalists welcomed the decision and described it as a historic day. "It seems that the Somali justice system is coming to reality and I hope that no journalist inside Somalia will be arrested for his work," said secretary-general Mohamed Ibrahim. |
| Fears over an erosion of press freedom heightened last week when journalists claimed they were beaten by police while trying to cover a court case. | Fears over an erosion of press freedom heightened last week when journalists claimed they were beaten by police while trying to cover a court case. |
| Somali prime minister Abdi Farah Shirdon had promised to reform the country's armed forces and the judiciary once the trial was concluded, acknowledging "deep-seated problems" with both institutions. | Somali prime minister Abdi Farah Shirdon had promised to reform the country's armed forces and the judiciary once the trial was concluded, acknowledging "deep-seated problems" with both institutions. |
| A new government backed by the UN came to power last September after more than two decades of civil war. | A new government backed by the UN came to power last September after more than two decades of civil war. |
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