NUSOJ condemns killing of Media Worker in Mogadishu
MOGADISHU, Somalia, August 1, 2012/African Press Organization (APO)/ -- The National Union of Somalia Journalists (NUSOJ) condemns the organized attacks on freedom of expression, which has claimed the live of a media worker in Mogadishu.
Abdi Jeylani Malaq, known Marshaale, who works for Universal TV as television actor and producer, was tonight attacked at his home in Waberi district by three men armed with pistols who shot him in the head and both hands. He was immediately rushed to Madina hospital where he was declared dead after admission.
Marshaale, who is also a distinguished satirist and prominent member of national artists team of Waberi, was the author or brain behind several television dramas that were critical to Al-Shabaab for recruiting children as soldiers and targeted killings of intellectuals.
“We condemn the brutal and sickening murder of television actor and producer Abdi Jeylani Malaq (Marshaale). We believe that this is part of the deadly campaign against the basic human right of freedom of expression,” said Omar Faruk Osman, NUSOJ Secretary General. “Marshaale, a satirist, was killed for exercising his freedom to speak his mind, which includes the freedom to use humour”.
In his television programmes, Marshaale made fun of the Al-Shabaab forces, sometimes indireclty, as well as armed militias who commit violence in the country as well as personalities of some politicians.
Marshaale is the seventh media worker killed in Somalia since January this year. 6 journalists were so far this year murdered in Mogadishu, Beledweyne and Galkayo.