Somali poetess Naema Ahmed has been sentenced to three years in jail after she was allegedly found guilty.
A court in the breakaway Somaliland said Ahmed was found guilty of publishing materials ‘bringing the nation or the state into contempt.
Ahmed was arrested early this year after she was accused of posting anti-Somaliland posts on Facebook.
The prosecution charged her of two charges including anti-national Activity of a citizen abroad (article 212 of the penal code) and Bringing the Nation or the state into contempt (article 219 [2] of the penal code).
The court dismissed that Ahmed has committed anti-national Activity of citizen abroad but found the poetess of committing the second charge level against her.
The lawyers of Ahmed said their client will appeal from the verdict saying the charges against her were not based on Somaliland law.
Through her lawyers, she said she was threatened with rape and death by Somaliland National Intelligence Agency.
In a sworn affidavit, the lawyers said Ahmed was assaulted by one of the officers at the detention.
“They threatened to unleash on her a Nigerian to do anything he wants (sexually assault her), they said the Nigerian was within the station and had been deployed severally to sexually assault women in the police cell,” reads the affidavit
The verdict was also condemned by Somaliland’s Human Right Centre calling on Somali authorities to respect the constitution.
The Centre also expressed concern over the allegations of ill-treatment mentioned by her lawyers.
Ahmed was arrested on 27th January this year from Hargeisa Airport while travelling to Mogadishu.
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