Police in Somalia raided and closed an independent radio station in the capital Mogadishu on Thursday, arresting five journalists, Agence France-Presse (AFP) has reported.
"A dozen of policemen aboard minibus entered the building and they arrested five of my colleagues including the editor," said Omar Habeb, a producer at Radio Voice of Peace.
Mohamed Ali Irole, the radio station's director, said he had contacted authorities to release the journalists. "I went to the CID (criminal investigations department) centre where the journalists are detained and some officials told me that the raid followed a news item on brief fighting between the government forces and opposing groups that we broadcast last night," he added.
The National Union of Somali Journalists condemned the incident, the latest in a series of raids on Somali media. It said the raid had been prompted by the station's coverage of Wednesday's night-time attack by insurgents in Mogadishu's KM4 neighbour area
"Police brutalities against media are intolerable and the transitional government must stop violence against journalists and media houses carried out by its soldiers," said the union's secretary general Omar Faruk Osman. "It is purposeful violation of because it is unjustifiable to see armed men who are supposed to enforce law and order carrying out such attack."
"We demand the immediate release of our colleagues and the recommencement of Radio Voice Peace its service to the public," he added.
