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Somalia: Puntland Releases Nine Suspects, Sentences Al Shabaab Fighter
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Garowe Online (Garowe)
17 July 2008
Posted to the web 18 July 2008
A court in Somalia's Puntland regional autonomy has dismissed 9 men held in suspicion of terror activities, while sentencing an alleged insurgent to a 12-year prison term.
The Bari Regional Court, in the northern port of Bossaso, listened to the Puntland government's case against the nine men, who were arrested last week in Galkayo town.
According to police sources, the men entered Galkayo from the southern regions and were arrested as suspects following a series of deadly bomb blasts in the town since mid-June.
The Regional Court judges dismissed the government's case, which lacked any evidence, and ordered Puntland police to release the suspects.
Critics accused Puntland authorities of arbitrarily arresting young men, who left Mogadishu and were traveling by land to the Somaliland regions.
But Puntland Security Minister Abdullahi Said Samatar told reporters that the courts have the authority to release suspects if the government cannot bring enough evidence to keep them detained.
12 years
Meanwhile, the Regional Court has sentenced a Somali man to serve 12 years in prison after the government of Puntland accused him of delivering explosives material into the region.
Mohamed Abdi Aware, chairman of the Bari Regional Court, announced the 12-year-sentence for Mohamed Amin after accusing him of being "a member of al Shabaab."
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In February, al Shabaab claimed responsibility for a terrorist bombing that killed more than 20 Ethiopian migrants in Bossaso.
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