Somaliland: Former Security Chief to Serve Three Years in Prison

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Former Somaliland deputy Interior Minister Abdilahi Abokor to serve three years

By: Yusuf M Hasan
HARGEISA (Somalilandsun) – Citizen Abdilahi Abokor is from henceforth and for three years official a guest of the state.
This follows a sentence passed by the Hargeisa regional court after it found the former deputy interior minister in-charge of security Abdilahi Abokor Osman guilty as charged.
The ex-security top honcho was found guilty of character assassination following accusations of links to Islamist terror organizations he leveled against serving ministers.
Also sentenced was a former body guard of the ex-minster, Suleiman Omar Gullied who will serve one year imprisonment for accosting security personnel during the arrest of his boss in Hargeisa on the 30th June 2014.
According to Abokor’s legal counsel Fozi Sheikh Younis Hasan the judgment against his client was not based on legal arguments but on political motivations.
“We are not satisfied with the lopsided judgment against Abokor thence appeal against sentence” said Lawyer Fozi

Lawyer Fozi says judgement was politicaly motivated
The arrest of the former deputy minister on the eve of 30th June 014 in Hargeisa gained notoriety for the style of operations by the crack Rapid Reaction Unit-RRU that utilized Special Weapons and Tactics-SWAT hitherto unseen in Somaliland.
Not to be outdone Abdilahi Abokor who was well armed responded in Kind-SWAT, thus a heavy weapons battle between personal body guards and RRU that shook the capital city.
Since the day’s proceedings at the regional court house were in-camera it is impossible to ascertain whether the state managed to negate the alleged involvement of senior operatives with terror groups or for the accused to prove his claims.
Two days prior to his sentencing Abdilahi Abokor accosted a cell mate at the Hargeisa prison that resulted in grievous bodily harm.
Watch the briefing by Bulsho TV