Filed Under:  Breaking News, East Africa, Somalia

Somali Men Get 40 Lashes For Watching Pornography

1st December 2009   ·   0 Comments  ·   By Shafii Mohyaddin Abokar

Al-Shabaab Top Guns

Al-Shabaab Top Guns

Al-shabaab, the Somali militants accused of having ties to Al Qaeda, have given 40 lashes to each of three young Somali men after being found guilty of watching pornography on their mobile phones, late Monday. A fourth man who was accused of listening to music on his mobile also received ten lashes in a public place in the Bu’ale town the provincial capital of Middle Jubab region about 485 kilometres south of the capital Mogadishu.

Sheik Mohamed Abu Jafar, the head of preaching department of Al-shabaab’s administration in the region told reporters that the men were found of guilty of being involved in anti-Islamic behaviour. “Islam doesn’t allow watching films or listening to music so we are warning people in the region to desist from such bad habits and whoever is caught doing this bad thing will be dealt with in accordance with the Islamic law” the militant leader added.

For the past several months the militant group Al-shabaab which is said to be Al-qaeda’s proxy in the horn of Africa fulfilled punishments including stoning to death, amputations and beheadings on people who were accused of making sins against Islamic law.

Al-Shabaab which says it is fighting to establish an Islamic state in Somalia currently controls most of south-central Somali regions and about two thirds of the restive capital where more than 1.5 million civilians fled from their homes. Al-Shabaab is made up of mainly loose rag-tag militia who have either been forced into militancy or brainwashed by Islamic fundamentalists.

© 2009, Shafii Mohyaddin Abokar. All rights reserved.

By Shafii Mohyaddin Abokar

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