Somali woman journalist shot dead in Mogadishu

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), and its Gender Council, joined affiliate the National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ) in condemning the cold-blooded murder of a young and promising female journalist in Somalia on 5 June 2016. Describing the murder as “barbarous”, the NUSOJ reported that Sagal Salad Osman was shot to death in Mogadishu Sunday afternoon. Sagal, 24 years old,  who was working for the government-controlled Somali National Television (SNTV) as newscaster for children's programming, was shot in the head and chest by two armed men while near Plasma University. She died on the spot. "We offer our heartfelt condolences to Sagal Salad Osman's family, and we implore Somali authorities to bring those responsible for Sagal's murder to justice, and break the cycle of violence and impunity that has plagued the country for so long," said Omar Faruk Osman, NUSOJ Secretary General. "We demand that security forces and the judiciary to see that her death does not go unpunished". While this is the first death in Somalia this year, the NUSOJ has reported increasing levels of violence, with four journalists reported killed last year, including Hindiyo Haji Mohamed killed by a car bomb in December 2015. Mohamed was a journalist with the national television station SNTV and had lost her journalist husband to a suicide bomb three years before.   “We are deeply saddened by the death of Sagal Salad Osman”, said IFJ president Jim Boumelha. “ Too many journalists in Somalia are being attacked with impunity. We demand an immediate investigation into this murder and we demand justice."   “Over the past few years we have had increasing reports of female journalists in Somalia being targeted because they are female. These are clearly cases of femicide and can no longer be tolerated. We call on national and international bodies to condemn and end this brutal form of silencing,” said Co-Chair of the IFJ Gender Council, Mindy Ran.    

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