Washington (Kaab TV) – A U.S. federal court’s convicted two Somali men, Mohamed Tahlil Mohamed and Abdi Yusuf Hassan, in the 2012 hostage-taking of German American journalist Michael Scott Moore in central Somalia.
In a statement, the U.S Justice Department said “For 977 days, Michael Scott Moore, an American journalist, was held hostage in Somalia by pirates. Today, a unanimous jury found two key players in Moore’s years-long captivity guilty on all counts: Mohamed Tahlil Mohamed and Abdi Yusuf Hassan.”
Somali government officials
On January 21, 2012, Moore was taken hostage by a group of Somali pirates while on assignment in the country. They released him in September 2014 after receiving a ransom payment.
According to U.S Justice Department, Tahlil, a Somali Army officer, left his post to take command of the pirates holding Moore captive and obtained the machine guns and grenade launchers used to threaten and hold Moore. Hassan, the Minister of Interior and Security for the province in Somalia where Moore was held hostage, abused his government position and led the pirates’ efforts to extort a massive ransom from Moore’s mother.
“The conviction of Mohamed Tahlil Mohamed and Abdi Yusuf Hassan in a U.S. court sends a message of hope that justice is possible for journalists who have been attacked, kidnapped, or even killed while reporting in Somalia,” said CPJ Sub-Saharan Africa Representative Muthoki Mumo. “It is high time that Somali journalists can equally find justice at home. Somali authorities must end the high rates of impunity for crimes against the press by ensuring accountability.”
Somalia has topped CPJ’s Global Impunity Index—which spotlights countries with the worst records for prosecuting murderers of journalists—for the past eight years.