[5] Due to frustration at the increasing number of expatriate journalists returning to the capital after the relative improvement in security, the militants in 2012 intensified their anti-media campaign,[6] killing a record 18 reporters during the year.
[7][8] Reporters Without Borders cited 2012's death toll as the main reason behind its placement of Somalia at 175 in its 2013 Press Freedom Index of 179 countries, an eleven-point drop in ranking from 2011.
[2] In January 2013, senior Radio Dalsan reporter Abdiaziz Abdinur Ibrahim was detained in the capital after interviewing an alleged victim of sexual assault, and tried on charges of insulting state institutions and coaxing false testimony out of the interviewee.
[17] In April 2020, prominent VOA journalist Harun Maruf was allegedly harassed and threatened by NISA under charges of undermining unity and having connections with al-Shabaab.
[19] In April 2020, Laetitia Bader, the Horn of Africa director for Human Rights Watch, appealed to the Somali authorities to 'stop jailing and harassing journalists,' highlighting the fact that it is a particularly crucial time for accurate news dissemination to the public due to the upcoming elections as well as COVID-19.
[20] In May 2020 the International Press Institute wrote an open letter to President Mohamed expressing concern at harassment, intimidation and arrest of independent journalists and media outlets.
Authorities must bring this practice to an end, and respect, protect, promote and fulfil the human rights of everyone and media freedom.Later in March 2021, Puntland president Said Abdullahi Deni issued a pardon to journalist Kilwe Adan Farah who had been sentenced to three years, having spent 90 days in prison.