Hargeisa District Appeals Court Reduces Sentence of a Well-known Cleric

Hargeisa May 11, 2013 (SDN) – An appeals court in Hargeisa, the Somaliland capital, has reduced a one year prison sentence given to well-known cleric Sheikh Mohamud Abdullahi Gelle Reeyot in April to six months  and dropped also court’s ruling of not buying prison sentence. Sheikh Mohamud Abdullahi Gelle an outspoken critic of president Silanyo’s administration, was sentenced in April and fined US$150 for crimes against Somaliland government and organizing a religious political party in Somaliland in December 2012.

Sheikh Gelle was arrested in December 2012 few days after forming his new religious political party “Hisbullah” in Hargeysa and was questioned by intelligence officers.  He was taken to court for several times since then but the court had always adjourned the hearing of the charges against him.

 

By: Eng. Abdirisak Ismail Qalinle (Itaqile)

SDN News Desk Hargeisa