The government of Somaliland arrested British-Somalilander poet Abdirahman Abees on 12 January 2019, the day after he recited poems about “police brutality, “arbitrary detentions” and “poor leadership” at a poetry reading event in Hargeisa, according to Human Rights Centre (HRC) Somaliland.
Guleid Ahmed Jama@GuleidJThe deputy police commissionaire and the police spokesperson stated in a press conference that poet Abdirahman Abees was arrested because his poem was “insulting and defaming the police.” They added: the media and the public are prohibited by law to talk about the “police force.”
According to Freemuse sources, Abees organised the poetry evening on 11 January with the theme Try and imagine the future of Somaliland and its police force. When introducing several poems, he spoke about the sociopolitics of Somaliland and made suggestions for improvement.
The next day, Abees was reportedly arrested at a restaurant in Hargeisa—the capital of the self-declared state of Somaliland—despite police not having a court-issued warrant for his arrest.
“Article 25(2) of the Constitution of Somaliland states that no person can be arrested or detained, except when caught in the act of committing a crime or, on the issue of a reasoned arrest warrant by a competent judge,” HRC reported.
The Constitution also states everyone has the freedom “to express his opinions orally, visually, artistically or in writing or in any other way”.
The poet is being held in the detention facility of the Counterterrorism Unit of the Criminal Investigation Department in Hargeisa, according to HRC.
His family told HRC they have not been allowed to see him.
Video: Abdirahman Abees at the poetry event in Hargeisa on 11 January 2019.
