Kenyan journalist arrested for his coverage on Somalia attack

A Kenyan journalist who has been posting information on social media about the terror attack on a Kenya Defence Force base in Somalia in January 15th has been arrested.

Yassin Juma, a blogger and independent journalist was apprehended from his home in Nairobi on Saturday.

According to reports from local dailies, Juma will be arraigned in court on Monday morning and will be charged with misuse of a communication gadget under section 29 of the Information and Communications Act.

Moreover, reports indicate the blogger is under investigation for his manner in covering the attack on Kenyan troops.

Following the attack, the ministry of interior Joseph Nkaissery said that anyone found sharing images of dead soldiers on social media would be arrested. This decision came about when images of dead Burundian soldiers attacked in 2011 by Al-Shabaab were circulated in social media purporting to be Kenya Defence Forces.

The East African country’s Security Laws (Amendment) Act 2014 has clauses that outlaws the sharing of images considered detrimental to national security.

There has been an uproar on social media with the hashtag #FreeYassinJuma as Kenyan protest against Juma’s arrest.

Kenyans protesting against arrest of local journalist Yassin Juma -using the hashtag #FreeYassinJuma pic.twitter.com/CDmZ1G6Eu1

— Samira Sawlani (@samirasawlani) January 23, 2016

#FreeYasinJuma Yassinjuma has provided important and credible reporting on #ElAdde. Is this why GoK wants to shut him down?

— gathara (gathara) January 23, 2016

Since the beginning of the year, several bloggers and journalists have been picked up for questioning due to their articles or posts on social media.