Somali journalist jailed in Puntland

A court in Somalia's breakaway Puntland region on Saturday sentenced a journalist to one year in prison for publishing false information, as a colleague protested he had not had a fair trial. Feisal Mohamed Hassan who works for Hiiraan online journal was arrested Thursday and accused of writing false information about local authorities. But a colleague of Hassan's, who asked not to be identified, told AFP: "They did not give fair trial to the journalist. "His lawyer was silenced and the judge never listened to his arguments to prove the innocence of the journalist," he added. Somalia is one of the world's most dangerous countries for journalists and authorities in the semi-autonomous Puntland region have previously arrested and detained several reporters.