Journalist Hoodo Garays has revealed that she and her mother were physically assaulted by police in Somaliland on Friday the 19th of February. Hoodo spoke with local journalists, describing the assault in detail.
Hoodo stated that she was accompanying an injured girl to the police station to get a police statement when she was harassed by officers in the parking lot of the station. According to Hoodo, the abuse started as soon as one officer recognized her and proclaimed that he knew of her and that she was “full of herself”. Hoodo said that the conversation between the two escalated and that the officer grabbed her hijab. Soon after, Hoodo found herself being beaten by three male police officers while fighting off one female officer.
Hoodo’s mother, Suleekha Aqil Abdilahi, was following her daughter in a different car to the station. Hoodo said that as soon as her mother left her vehicle when she saw her getting attacked, the elderly mother got attacked too by three male officers.
After the attack, both Hoodo and her mother were kept behind bars without any explanation.
On the 25th of February, the Somaliland Police Chief Mohamed Aden Saqadhi (Dabagale) and senior officers of the Somaliland Police Force met with Hoodo and her mother. The police representatives stated that they strongly condemned the assault and assured them that the police officers who assaulted them would be brought to justice.
At the time of writing, no arrests have been made.
[Photo courtesy of Facebook]
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