Banadir Regional Court sentences Matt Bryden and Sahan Research
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The Benadir Regional Court has today announced sentencing of Sahan Research and its director general Matt Bryden.
Banadir Regional Court Chairman Abdikhadar Mohamed Hassan read out the verdict and said Matt Bryden, currently living in Nairobi, Kenya, had been sentenced to five years in prison.
The court also sentenced other foreigners who were among the founders of Sahan Research, all in absentia, and ordered investigators to arrest the suspects.
“The court, in accordance with the Somali Penal Code, found defendant Matt Bryden under articles 215, paragraphs 1 and 328 of the Somali Penal Code, and sentenced him to five years in prison,” said Chairman Abdikhadar Mohamed Hassan.
He also said that the Benadir Regional Court had acquitted the accused Rashid Abdi, Kheyre Abdirahman, Emmanuel Deiser, David Hopkins and another foreigner of the charges against them.
The main allegations include making public national security and military intelligence of Somalia on the publications of Sahan Research.
He was also charged with espionage.
The group are based in Kenya and cover political and security issues in the Horn of Africa, including Somalia, and have often been accused of leaking sensitive information, which is not intended for the media.
Sahan Research was suspended in December 2018 after the Somali administration deemed it a threat to security and governance in the country.
A statement from the Somali Ministry of Security said on December 17, 2018: It has no connection or cooperation with Sahan Research as this company has engaged in the above-mentioned activities that are detrimental to the stability of the country and the nation of Somalia. ”
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