Vol. 72/No. 36      September 15, 2008

“When Omar and Yassin were arrested February 28 we first asked each other what we had done and why we were attacked when we only sought safety in Sweden,” said Ali Abdi who had helped organize the fight to free the two men.

Speaking at the forum, Omar Muhammad Ali explained that after a late shift working as a taxi driver he and his family were woken up by around 20 heavily armed policemen from the National Security Force who stormed his apartment. He said his arrest was part of a sweeping attack against the Somali community in which the Swedish security police interrogated more than 100 people. The police raided hawalas, Somali money transferring agencies; taxi operators; and others.

Muhammad Ali was kept in a cell without a toilet 23 and a half hours a day. He had a half-hour break in a corridor with only the roof open.

Hundreds gathered outside the court in several protests organized after a public meeting of the Somali Peace and Development Organization, which was formed after the U.S.-supported Ethiopian invasion of Somalia

The two prisoners were released from detention June 13. The district attorney of Stockholm is expected to make a decision August 30 on whether to press charges against them.
 
 
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