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RSF urges Puntland to drop charges against journalist Suways Gacayte following her recent conditional release on bail from the regional capital’s main correctional facility. The international press freedom watchdog, Reporters Without Borders (RSF), issued an urgent appeal from its global offices, calling on regional authorities to immediately halt all criminal proceedings against the prominent media worker. Suways Jama Mohamud, widely recognized throughout the region by her professional moniker Suways Gacayte, is the independent founder of Suways Media, an online information network that frequently broadcasts street interviews and public interest reports across Facebook and YouTube. Her prolonged legal ordeal has drawn severe criticism from international and local syndicates, who categorize the prosecution as a clear mechanism of independent journalism intimidation.
The controversial legal case stems directly from a brief, fifteen-second video report published on the journalist’s Facebook news portal on June 29. The brief multimedia clip featured uniform-wearing armed personnel, accompanied by a text caption reporting that local security forces had instructed civilian residents residing around the General Jimcaale neighborhood to quickly evacuate their premises. The broadcast materialized during a period of highly sensitive regional tensions involving federal authorities and the autonomous administration. Following the social media post, municipal police units reportedly waited outside Gacayte’s private residence on July 2, apprehending her without an initial judicial warrant and transferring her straight to the Garowe Central Prison.
During a heavily monitored arraignment hearing before the Garowe First Instance Court, the Nugaal Regional Prosecution Office formally introduced several criminal counts against the media professional. State attorneys are seeking a severe penal sentence of up to three years in prison under the country’s outdated 1962 Penal Code. The specific state charges include allegations of disseminating completely false news, insulting public administrative bodies, inciting unrest, and deliberately disturbing public order. Gacayte’s defense team, led by prominent attorney Qareen Abdiweli, filed a vigorous formal motion challenging the court’s primary jurisdiction over the matter, arguing that a working media professional cannot legally face archaic criminal penal prosecution for standard journalistic activities.
The defense maintains that the entire state intervention directly violates the explicit protections outlined in both the regional constitution and the statutory Puntland Media Law. Under these local media statutes, any formal civil or professional grievances against working reporters must first be directed to the Puntland Higher Media Council for arbitration before escalating to criminal tribunals. While Gacayte secured temporary bail on July 15 after spending nearly two weeks behind bars, her file remains active before the magistrate. Human rights advocates warn that the ongoing weaponization of criminal codes to suppress coverage of local security dynamics sets a highly dangerous precedent, threatening the fragile civic space remaining for independent journalists and digital media content creators across the Horn of Africa.