Police in Mogadishu have filed charges against 46 individuals, who reportedly took part in last week’s demonstrations in the capital city, for murder, looting and destruction of property. A charge sheet seen by Goobjoog News lists 46 suspects of the violent protests in Howlwadag District. Saturday’s mayhem was ignited by the shooting, to death, of two people by the police.
At least five people were killed in the demonstrations, which saw groups of youth burn tyres and barricade roads in Howlwadag District. The protesters were incensed by the brutal murder of a driver of a Tuk-tuk vehicle and his passenger, by a police officer who immediately vanished from the scene. The murder was the second in two weeks following a similar incident on April 1st in Waberi district, where another taxi driver was killed by a police officer. Several other cases, in which police officers have brazenly shot dead drivers in the city, have been documented. Last September, a military man fired at a school bus killing a nine-year-old schoolgirl.
Police chiefs were on Sunday took to task over the fate and whereabouts of police officers who have been accused of civilian killings. A Member of Parliament, who attended the session and wished to remain anonymous, said the police only stated “we are in the process of prosecuting them”.
The officer involved in the Saturday killing is yet to be arrested, yet “someone had committed to bringing him in,” the police chief told Parliament. According to the charge sheet, the police have requested five more days to detain the accused as they conduct investigations.
