About 70 people remain in prison after being arrested by police during the August 11 opposition protests in different regions of Somaliland.
Police chief General Maxamed Saqadhi Dabagale told a parliamentary committee investigating the actions by the police that saw five people killed said 82 people arrested but 70 remain in custody.
Curiously though, one month after the protests, none of the 70 is yet to be charged in court.
Somaliland police have been accused of using live bullets to repulse the protestors killing five among them a young boy who was shot and run over by a police vehicle.
General Maxamed Saqadhi Dabagale confessed the police used force to quell the protests especially in the capital, Hargeisa.
file:///C:/Users/user/Downloads/Translated%20House%20Report%20-%20Final.pdf
The committee asked the police chief: There was a young boy who was killed by a gunshot. The young boy was far outside the protest area when a car with a civilian plate number carrying plain-clothed young men chased him. They fired a gunshot at short range. Then the car ran over him. They took his body. What do you know about that case? Are there any people arrested for this?
Two which the General Dabagale responded: “It is true that there was a Landcruiser with a civilian plate number present at the protest day. But that the police killed or ran over him is the information we are unaware of. The Commander of the intelligence agency and I are currently conducting its investigation.”
Opposition parties who had called the protests to push for presidential elections to be held in November want action taken against the police stating that those who died were victims of extra-judicial killings.
