Guardian journalist and colleagues detained and assaulted by Somali police

A journalist who reported on the torture of a woman in prison was detained and assaulted with rifle butts by Somali police, along with two other journalists. The incident is linked to his article for the Guardian.

Mohamed Bulbul was detained alongside journalists Abdihafid Nor Barre and Abdishakur Mohamed Mohamud on Friday evening at a restaurant in central Mogadishu, the Somali capital. They said they were beaten and taken for interrogation by members of a U.S.-trained anti-terrorism police unit. All three were released early Saturday.

Media outlets and lawmakers said the arrests were unlawful and politically motivated. The arrests come as the government steps up a crackdown amid growing public anger toward the ruling elite, with the presidential term set to end on May 15.

Abdirahman Abdishakur, a lawmaker and leader of the opposition Wadajir party, condemned the arrests. He wrote on X that Somalia's president appeared “overwhelmed by fear and confusion as his term ends.” He added: “Instead of addressing the growing public anger over forced evictions, land grabbing, and pursuing a comprehensive political solution to steer the country through this fragile transition, the administration has intensified its crackdown on journalists, activists, and vocal youth.”

The detention of Bulbul is believed to be linked to his articles about the case of Sadia Moalim Ali, a 27-year-old rickshaw driver imprisoned for peaceful protests and social media activism. He has also spoken out about security force abuses and forced evictions in Mogadishu.

On Thursday, the Guardian published an article by Bulbul in which Ali recounted being tortured at Mogadishu central prison. She said she was stripped naked by two male guards in a room with surveillance cameras, kicked, beaten with a baton, and starved for two days in a small cell. The article was widely shared across Somali media, Facebook, and X.

Bulbul and the two other journalists have faced ongoing threats and intimidation in recent weeks. Their detention occurs amid heightened political pressure surrounding protests planned for Sunday.

At police headquarters, the three reporters said they were threatened by Mogadishu police chief Mahdi Omar Mumin if they continued covering the protests. In a statement from the Somali Journalists Syndicate (SJS), the journalists said Mumin told them he was “tired of arresting journalists” and that if they did not stay silent about the protests and other developments in Mogadishu, including Ali's case, their only remaining option would be “death.”

Somali Stream, the media outlet where Mohamud works, condemned the arrests as “an unlawful and politically motivated attack on independent journalism.” Its executive director, AbdiKani Hamud Abokor, said: “Somali Stream strongly condemns the unlawful detention of Abdishakur Mohamed Mohamud, Abdihafid Nor Barre, and Mohamed Bulbul. This is a deliberate attempt to terrorize journalists, suppress independent reporting, and instill fear in the Somali media community.”

The news follows the arrest of several journalists earlier this week. On May 6, at least five local journalists were arrested and their equipment seized, according to SJS. Two other radio journalists, Ja'far Mohamed Jim'ale and cameraman Nur Hasan Ali, remain in custody, their whereabouts unknown.

According to the World Press Freedom Index, Somalia ranks 126th out of 180 countries. Reporters Without Borders says journalists in the country work in a highly insecure environment. With more than 50 journalists killed since 2010, Somalia is one of the most dangerous countries for journalists in Africa. Somali authorities have not responded.