Poet Abdirahman Abees has been released from custody in Somaliland after a court found he "exercised his freedom of expression" with his poetry readings.

Freemuse urges Somali authorities to investigate killing of cleric Sheikh Abdiweli Ali Elmi and 17 worshippers for playing music.

Poet Naema Ahmed Ibrahim was released from prison and remains in Hargeisa. She was not pardoned of the charges against her.

Musician Nimcaan Hilaac has been reportedly arrested in his home town of Boroma in Somaliland, according to Freemuse sources.

A concert with singer Nasteexo Indho, along with DJ Subeer and the singers from Stars of the Horn, was cancelled one hour before it was scheduled to begin on 13 August 2016 in Hargeisa as armed soldiers surrounded the DJ and a young TV cameraman, informing them of the cancellation …

Security forces in Hargeisa, the capital of Somaliland, arrested musician Farhan Hidig (Farxaan Xidig) in late June 2016 due to him visiting Mogadishu and remains in custody, according to Freemuse sources. According to local media sources the musician was arrested in connection to his political activity. Somaliland authorities have not commented …

Somaliland Informer reported on 30 September 2015 that a Hargeisa regional court has ordered the release of the four detained Horn Star singers who were arrested as they four days earlier had returned from a tour to Somalia’s capital Mogadishu. Court chairman Hon. Ahmed Dalmar Ismail has issued a formal …

Four musicians from the Hargeisa-based Horn Stars band were arrested upon their arrival at Egal airport in Hargeisa, the capital of Somaliland, reported BBC Somali along with several Somali news websites. The musicians were returning home after a tour with performances in Nairobi and Mogadishu. It is currently not clear …

On 2 August 2015, SLInformer reported that Police in Hargeisa, Somaliland, had arrested the popular musician Nimcaan Hilaac shortly after he returned home from a journey to Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia. On 3 August, only a few hours after Freemuse and local websites published the news about his arrest, …

  Somali poet, playwright and songwriter Warsame Shire Awale was killed in the country’s capital, Mogadishu, on 29 October 2012 in the evening, reported BBC World. Warsame Shire Awale who was in his 60s worked for the Radio Kulmiye where he wrote and acted in radio plays critical of the …