A court in breakaway region of Somaliland’a has slapped a three years jail term on poet Naima Ahmed Qorane.
The court in the Marodi-jeh Regional court found her guilty of “Anti-national activity of a citizen and bringing the nation or state in contemptâ€.
The poet known for her Somali unity sentiments was arrested on January 27 upon her return to her native Somaliland after visiting Mogadishu.
There has been an ongoing campaign to pressure the Hargeisa administration to have her released.
Ahmed through her poetry has been a vocal advocate of “Somali Unity†and “The Greater Somalia†agenda.
She was featured in the TedX Mogadishu where she presented her Somali Unity poems to the audience.
Somaliland has clamped down on any persons campaigning against what it terms “Somaliland sovereigntyâ€. In February 2017 journalist and blogger AbdiMalik Muse Oldoon was arrested upon returning from meeting Somalia President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed Farmaajo.
Mohamed Kayse Mohamud an author who wrote a book in praise of Somalia president Mohamed Abdullahi Farmaajo was also arrested this year.
Somaliland declared its independence in 1991 following the fall of the Siad Barre regime but it has remained unrecognized by the international community.
