Former Somali journalist who worked for AlShabaab sentenced to death for the murder of 5 journalists

A Somali military court on Thursday, March 3, sentenced a former journalist and media officer for Islamist group Al-Shabaab to death for the assassination of his fellow journalists. The court ruled he should be executed by firing squad.

Hassan Hanafi Haji, 30, helped the jihadi group in identifying possible targets among the journalists between 2007 and 2011.

Hanafi worked as a media officer for the Somali Islamist group's radio Andalus, arranging news conferences in the years when the militants controlled the capital Mogadishu. 

While working for for Radio Andalus, he would target journalists and threatened them with death if they refused to join the group. Many journalists were forced to flee Somalia after receiving threats from Hanafi. And according to the Committe to Protect Journalists (COJ) more than 25 journalists have been murdered in Somalia since 2007.

Eventually the Islamist fundamentalists were pushed out of Mogadishu by African Union peacekeeping forces in 2011 but they have continued to launch frequent attacks in attempt to disable the western-backed government.

Hasan Ali, chairman of the Somali military court in Mogadishu, told reporters that Hassan Hanafi had admitted to killing one reporter and had been found guilty of killing five others. Several local journalists sat through the court proceedings, with the verdict welcome in a country where many feel those targeting journalists have not been held accountable.

"He will be put to death as soon as possible," Ali said.

Hanafi, 30, has said he joined al Shabaab in 2008 when he was working as a journalist for a local Somali broadcaster. He was arrested in neighboring Kenya in 2015 and then returned to Somalia for trial. He had been promoted to commander in 2009. The following year, he was seriously injured in fighting.

"Al Shabaab killed many journalists, but personally I killed only one," Hanafi said after the sentence was announced. "But I am indifferent if you kill me. You will see if killings will stop even after my death."