Somali spy chief Fahad Yasin, President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo accuses veteran journalist Harun Maruf damning allegations against a respected journalist who co-authored one of the key books on Al-Shabaab and Islamic militancy in Somalia.
Harun Maruf a journalist with VOA and author of “Inside Al-Shabaab, the Secret History of Al-Qaeda’s Most Powerful Ally,” was labelled a threat to Somalia’s national security by NISA. a statement released on the agency’s twitter, NISA said that it would be taking legal action against Harun Maruf whom they described as being a threat to Somalia’s domestic security. It added that Maruf operated outside the acceptable boundaries of journalism and warned government institutions by working with him.
NISA did not indicate what the action would be or who Maruf was allegedly working with.
The vague statement was called into question by many who viewed it as a blatant attack on the media and the weaponization of government institutions against a popular journalist. Somali spy chief Fahad Yasin, the shadowy Director-General of NISA, is a close confidante of President Mohamed Farmajo
Harun Maruf also has a program of investigations called the “Investigative Investigation”, which has repeatedly published and disclosed confidential information from government and expose to public, some on corruption within government institutions and security shortages. appearing in corrupt Somali government security agencies.
Harun Maruf has yet to respond to NISA’s Chief Fahad Yasin. However, it is clear that the issue will not go away with the VOA that it operates in. USA.
Somalia is one of the most dangerous countries to be a journalist. It consistently ranks in the bottom of press freedom.