Marodi Jeh’s regional lower court sentenced Waddani’s shadow youth and sports secretary to one year in prison on Sunday for orchestrating a violent demonstration in Hargeisa last month.
Yonis Ahmed Yonis and Mohamed Sadiq Dhame, spokesman of the party’s youth wing, were arrested in April after police shut down a violent illegal demonstration they were holding outside a new downtown Hotel.
Dhame was set free on Sunday by the court after prosecutors failed to provide evidence linking him to the charges.
According to Faysal Hees, the spokesman of Somaliland’s National Police Force, Yonis was the mastermind of the violent demonstration. Hiis told reporters last month that Yonis also spread false news about police officers after the demonstration was shut down, which racked him up another charge.
Yonis instructed local youth to throw rocks at police officers and municipal employees after Hargeisa’s local government started to demolish illegal business and homes surrounding the Ali Jirde Hotel, Hiis said.
The illegal businesses and homes were demolished in accordance with a 2014 municipal policy initiated by Hargeisa’s Mayor, Abdirahman Mohamud Aideed Soltelco.
Mayor Soltelco has repeatedly warned Hargeisa residents over the past three years about the consequences of building illegal structures and businesses.
