The Chief Judge of Banadir Regional Appellate Court, Somalia, today, promised quick action against plaintiffs and complainants who disparage the Somalia justice system on social media.
Judge Abshir Omar Abdullahi, a very young appointee to one of the most critical benches in the country, vowed lightening retribution against people who complain of court injustices or write about cases settled by a court of law on both social and conventional media platforms placing emphasis on the former.
“Anybody who uses social media to divulge details of ongoing cases on media will be dealt a swift blow commensurate with his action,” he said, promising that a criminal charge against the suspect will be swiftly served.
“Criminal charges against that person will be processed before the case he or she complained about resumes,” he stated at a function where police officers were being awarded for services rendered.
The avowal, critics point out, is a stark indication of how low the Somalia justice has slided to, pointing out that nothing better was expected of the rows of inexperienced ‘kids’ whom president Farmajo lined up to run Somalia’s courts.
“Between the President and the very very young Chief Justice he nominated to the Supreme Court, confidence on the courts has sunk to an all-time low,” many of them said.
“What is worse,” one of them pointed our “some lured from as far afield as Somaliland are not even familiar with the people, the area and the socio-ethnic of the area they preside over which so greatly mars their understanding of critical facets of cases they adjudicate on”.
