By: Yusuf M Hasan
ERIGAVO (Somalilandsun) – In a first in Somaliland a serving regional police commander has been sentenced to prison.
This unprecedented move comes after the Sanaag regional court found the area’s senior police Chief Hasan Ismail Yusuf guilty of abusing an expectant mother as well as contempt of court.
Accordingly the now former police officer shall serve 18 months in prison on the two charges proffered against him.
The officer who was originally arraigned before the court following complaint of having caused bodily harm to one Ms Feisa Daba-dawoo in Erigavo accrued the second count of contempt after attending court armed with a pistol and threatening the complaint.
While passing judgment Justice Ahmed Jama Suleiman who castigated the defendant for conduct unbecoming of not only a police officer but a senior one as well said the unparalleled sentencing of Hasan Ismail Yusuf should serve as a signal to others in authority.
The regional court justice also dispatched judgment and subsequent imprisonment documents against the officer to the national police commissioner, Sanaag regional military commander and the Court of appeal.
The arraignment in a civil court and subsequent imprisonment of a senior police officer is a unique event in Somaliland where members of the various security branches are prosecuted at a court martial.
Said and done Hasan Ismail Yusuf should utilize his 18 months as guest of the state in reflecting on his conduct while trying to avoid revenge from his co-inmates most of whom are in prison courtesy of his alleged orders to cook evidence thence land them in prison come shine or rain.
