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Wardheernews Defamation Case against Fahad Yasin

by Abdinur Mohamed
Tuesday, January 16, 2018


Fahad Yassin, Chief of Staff of Somali President
On January 6, 2018 Wardheernews ran an editorial piece which they named it “Wardheernews of the person of the year 2017: Fahad Yasin”. The objective of the opinion piece was an endeavor to tarnish a decent man with false claims and to misrepresent his personal profile. Historically, Wardheernews had a good rating among the Somali intellectuals.  It was considered by many as the second most reliable websites in the country after Hiiraan Online. Pathetically, their current editorial peace which was unfounded and factually full of false information is malicious and unprecedented.  The article claimed that Mr. Fahad has fought in several places including Somalia and Yemen.  The website doesn’t have a shred of evidence to substantiate this claim. It was purely a character assassination aimed at branding Mr. Yasin as an extremist with the end goal of diverting the public opinion.  Wardheernews should provide evidence to support their claim or have the audacity to withdraw their editorial opinion and submit a public apology to Mr. Fahad Yasin if they still concern about sustaining Journalistic standards of accuracy or fairness.  

Public confidence in Somalia media is already low and will continue to slip due to the lack of ethical reporting and accountability. It is a wide west mentality where everyone writes bad stuff against any individual whom they don’t seem to like.

Reporters who went to journalism school take press law, and as professional journalist, they won’t intentionally write lies as they know lawsuits can be filed against them. In most part of the world media enjoys freedom of expression, but a newspaper that publishes an editorial opinion is liable for a defamation if their reporting is deliberately falsified. The reporting of Wardheernews is prosecutable in countries where defamation law is applicable.

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Reliable sources link the Editor as the mastermind of the Editorial piece.  Basically, the Editor who sought a nomination from the office of the President for an international post blames Mr. Fahad for failing to obtain it. According to sources familiar with the case, Mr. Fahad was not at all involved and was not even the Chief of the Staff when the country nomination was filed. 

Mr. Fahad Yasin is a decent and soft spoken guy. He is a journalist who has been in politics for over a decade. In 2017, he became a campaign manager of President Farmajo and was able to deliver a victory. Few months following the presidential election, the President nominated him as his trusted Chief of Staff. He is a rising star, and a shrewd politician. As a Chief of Staff, he is playing a key role in the current administration and it is therefore obvious that he would have so many political enemies.  A public figure can be rightfully criticized, but defamation of character is an act of crime. The whole campaign smearing against him is basically a combination of human jealousy and the desperate tactics of the opposition groups.

Abdinur Mohamed
Email: [email protected]

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