Mogadishu (Commentary) — A Puntland courtroom earlier this week indicted Mohamed Yaqub Siyad in absentia for “spreading pro-ISIS propaganda”. The prosecutor mentioned that “Mohamed Yaqub Siyad, whose social media alias is Yaqub Siyad, shared a video on a social media platform through which he denounced counterterrorism operations towards Daesh [ aka Islamic State in Somalia] as a marketing campaign towards sure clans. He additionally claimed that there isn’t any Daesh in Puntland State of Somalia.” Yaqub’s video was allegedly posted after overseas ISIS terrorists had resorted to suicide bombings focusing on Puntland State troopers.
This authorized case is unprecedented in Somalia, given the truth that no promoter of pro-terrorism propaganda has ever been placed on trial in absentia. Yaqub lives in a rustic the place ISIS and its guardian organisation, ISIL (Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant), are outlawed. Publicly expressing sympathy for ISIL and its associates can represent against the law labeled within the Western world as “glorifying terrorism.”
Undoubtedly, authorities within the host nation will take curiosity within the trial towards Yaqub. Different Somali social media personalities who’ve proven outright help for terrorist organisations might face investigations in host international locations. If the video attributed to Yaqub is verified, he’ll face authorized challenges.
In america, 18 U.S.C. § 2339A and § 2339B, underneath materials help statutes, prohibit help for a terrorist organisation. In the UK, the Terrorism Act 2006 stipulates that it’s a felony offence to glorify terrorism if the aim is to encourage others to commit acts of terrorism. In Germany, Part 129a of the Prison Code prohibits the promotion or glorification of terrorism.
Puntland State of Somalia has sturdy ties with a number of international locations that host Somali refugees. In 2005, Mustaf Jama was one of many males who killed PC Sharon Beshenivsky in Bradford and fled to Somalia. President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed, who was visiting London in 2005, instructed the Somali group that “the Federal Authorities of Somalia will arrest any fugitive who escapes to Somalia after committing against the law within the host nation that kindly welcomed you due the civil battle in Somalia.” Puntland State authorities detained and facilitated Jama’s extradition to the UK, the place he was discovered responsible of homicide and sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimal time period of 35 years. The Puntland State judiciary has despatched a well timed message to Somali expatriate warmongers and terrorism sympathisers.
H. A. Abukar is a retired lawyer in Mogadishu
