Soldier sentenced to death for killing Minister
Publish date: 26 June 2017
Issue Number: 731
Diary: IBA Legalbrief Africa
Category: Somalia
The Somali soldier who shot dead the country's youngest-ever Cabinet Minister last month has been sentenced to death by firing squad. Abas Abdullahi Siraji was in his car near the presidential palace in Mogadishu when he was killed by Ahmed Abdullahi Abdi, who reportedly mistook him for a militant Islamist. BBC News reports that the Military Court which handed down the verdict said he can appeal. At 31, Siraji became Somalia's youngest-ever MP last November before becoming the Minister of Public Works this year.
