SOMALIA: NUSOJ and Somali Media Fraternity Grieve As They Take Part The Burial Ceremony

Mogadishu (RBC) The National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ) organized the member journalists and Somali media fraternity to gather at Madina hospital on Sunday morning to attend the funeral and show solidarity to our slain colleague who was killed in Mogadishu on Saturday evening, meanwhile the National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ) welcomes the government’s probe into the killing of the Radio Director.
Late Hasan Osman Abdi (Fantastic), the director of Shabelle Radio, was killed by two unknown assailants armed with pistols, near his home near his home in Nasteeho neighborhood of Wadajir district in Mogadishu on Saturday evening January 28, 2012, according to witnesses.
The gunmen immediately fled from the area, according to Shabelle radio. It is not yet clear the reason behind his killing.He was rushed to Madina Hospital, where he was declared dead, where his body has been kept in the overnight.  It is not yet clear the reason behind his killing and no group claimed the responsibility of the attack.
NUSOJ officials and Somali media fraternity, some of the Shabelle Radio staff, where Hassan has worked, and family members took the body to a cemetery at Baqdaad village, in the outskirts of Mogadishu, almost 10km Southwest of Mogadishu, where late Hassan Osman Abdi’s burial took place. The burial took place at around 10:00am Sunday morning.
NUSOJ Treasurer, who is also the union’s press freedom coordinator, Abdirashid Abdulle Abikar, spoke to the local and international media soon after the burial ended and extended condolences to the families, friends and colleague of late Hassan.  Mr. Abikar also called the journalists and media workers to be vigilant and take safety measures following this murder.
“We pray Almight Allah to remain his soul in Paradise.” Abdirashid Abdulle Abikar, NUSOJ Treasurer and Press Freedom Coordinator said urging that the journalists should take urgent safety measures to ensure their safety in the wake of this horrendous murder.
Mr. Abikar also stressed such killings could only mean to silence the voice of the voiceless and called the journalists to continue their normal work they serve to the public, while he thanked to the journalists in general for their bravery in continuing providing accurate and balanced information to the public in line with the rules and regulations of journalism, which going against such rules could be disastrous and unprofessional, which has nothing to do with journalism.
On Sunday, Somalia government condemned the brutal murder of the radio director pledged urgent investigations into the killing, according to a statement.
Late Hassan Fantastic, 30yrs, is survived by a wife and three children – two girls and a boy and was the third Shabelle director killed since 2007. Three journalists have been killed in Mogadishu last alone
Journalists in Somalia who are working in one of the most dangerous environments in the world to be journalists lack the appropriate safety trainings and as well as need their level of professionalism to be upgraded.
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