The Jubbaland regional administration yesterday renamed the Dolow District Airport after the state security minister, Abdirashid Hassan Abdinur Janan, who is being held in detention by the federal government in Mogadishu.
A ceremony to make the renaming of the airport, which wast held in Dolow, was attended by governors of Dolow, Beled Hawo and Luq, all in Gedo region of southern Somalia.
Dolow Airport will henceforth be known as Abdirashid Janan Airport in honour of the arrested Jubbaland security minister.
Janan was arrested on 31 August by security forces in Mogadishu while on a transit flight to the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa.
On 6 Oct 2019, he appeared before the Banadir Regional Court in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, to answer charges of crimes against humanity he allegedly committed in Gedo region in 2015.
The UN Somalia and Eritrea Monitoring Group accused Janan of murder, torture, unlawful detention and other illegal acts between 2014 and 2015.
Rights watchdog Amnesty International welcomed his arrest, saying he was reasonably suspected of criminal responsibility for crimes under international law and other serious human rights violations, including obstructing humanitarian assistance.
