Ethiopia: Silencing Dissent – Criminalization of Freedom of Speech in Ethiopia’s Somali Region

Addis Abeba — In a troubling setback for democratic progress, the Somali Regional State has chosen repression over dialogue. In April 2025 alone, four journalists and activists–Abdi Mohamed Barud, Mohamed Aden Hassan, Ahmed Abdi Omar, and Ibrahim Abduqadir–were arrested in Jigjiga under opaque circumstances. Their offense? Exercising their constitutional right to free expression through digital platforms.

On 22 May, 2025, the Fafen Zone High Court in Jigjiga sentenced Ahmed Abdi Omar–also known as Ahmed Awga, founder of Jigjiga Television Network–to two years in prison. According to court documents obtained and shared with Addis Standard, the same court handed a three-year sentence to Mohamed Aden Hassan on the same day. A week later, Abdi Mohamed Barud was sentenced to one year and six months in prison. These convictions–based largely on their social media commentary–have triggered widespread public outrage and raised urgent questions about the state of civil liberties under President Mustafe Muhumed Omar.

In a BBC Somali interview, President Mustafe offered a chilling justification: the men were punished for “inciting public unrest” and “provoking social disorder.” But to the public–and to any discerning observer–these charges reek not of justice but of strategic silencing. These four young men committed no crime but refused to conform to the sterile silence expected of citizens. Their “weapon” was a Facebook post. Their “threat” was the truth.

The moment the verdicts were announced, social media erupted with outrage and disbelief. To many, the court rulings didn’t reflect fair judicial process but felt more like staged attempts to silence young voices. Phrases like “legal lynching,” “fabricated threats,” and “state-sanctioned censorship” quickly gained traction on Facebook and X (formerly Twitter), echoing a sentiment that this was less about justice and more about fear–fear of accountability, fear of criticism, and fear of an awakened generation.

From liberation to repression

When Mustafe Muhumed Omar rose to power, many hailed him as a reformer–an antidote to the scars of authoritarian rule. In his early days, his administration spoke the language of openness, civic participation, and democratic reform. That hopeful language has now become hollow ritual. Journalists are harassed, human rights defenders are threatened, and youth activists are imprisoned for daring to dream differently.

The imprisonment of the journalist is not an isolated case–it is the loudest yet in a symphony of silence imposed by the administration allergic to scrutiny. The institutions once meant to serve the people now serve as instruments to intimidate them. The stage that was once set for dialogue has become a courtroom of punishments.

Across Ethiopia, and particularly in the Somali region, youth face staggering unemployment, disenfranchisement, and systemic marginalization. Despite this, they have shown remarkable resilience–using digital platforms not for subversion, but for engagement, inquiry, and reform. To imprison them for such acts is to betray the very fabric of progress.

The imprisonment of the journalist is not an isolated case–it is the loudest yet in a symphony of silence imposed by the administration allergic to scrutiny.”

Experts on the Horn of Africa have warned repeatedly: the silencing of young voices is not a strategy for stability–it is an invitation to unrest. When dialogue is punished and dissent is pathologized, alienation festers. A government that cannot tolerate peaceful criticism will inevitably face unrest of its own making.

Mustafe’s administration has chosen coercion over conversation. And in doing so, it is strangling the very generation best equipped to navigate the region into a more peaceful and prosperous era. The incarceration of these journalists is not merely a judicial misstep–it is a political verdict on the leadership’s shrinking tolerance for divergence. The Somali Regional Government finds itself at an existential crossroads: Will it uphold the pillars of accountability and pluralism, or entrench itself further in the machinery of repression?

To govern is not to fear scrutiny. To lead is not to muzzle critique. Real leadership thrives in the cacophony of diverse voices, not in the comfort of an echo chamber. President Mustafe must confront the widening chasm between his administration’s reformist rhetoric and its repressive reality. If the goal is to build a durable legacy, it cannot be constructed on the ashes of broken freedoms and imprisoned dreams. Suppressing these young men may intimidate others into silence, but it will also stain the moral authority of the government, possibly beyond repair.