Dhusamareb (Somalia Today) — A Somali father on Monday denounced a court verdict as an “injustice” and a “disgrace,” delivered a day after three men were sentenced over the killing of his wife and three daughters but were not found guilty of murder.
Ahmed Mohamud Anshur spoke to local media on October 20, condemning the decision by the Galgaduud regional court in Somalia’s Galmudug state.
On Sunday, the court sentenced Abdi Osman Adullahi and Galad Ahmed Hussein to five years in prison, while a third man, Ayub Mohamed Abdi, received a three-year term.
The judge said prosecutors failed to provide “real evidence” to prove murder charges. The charges were for the killings of Sahra Artan Hersi and her daughters: Nuuro, Hawo, and Fa’iso Ahmed.
The court issued the prison terms under tacsiir, a discretionary penalty in Islamic jurisprudence.
‘A shameful matter’
“While we were waiting for justice, this… sentence befell us,” Anshur said on Monday. “This is a shameful matter. I did not expect this from the Galmudug government.”
Anshur made a direct appeal to Galmudug’s president, Ahmed Abdi Karie, known as “Qoor Qoor,” asking him to intervene personally. “I believe the president authorized this,” Anshur said. “And if he did not, he will do something about it, and quickly.”
He warned the ruling was not just a private loss. He said it “could bring danger” to communities in the region and “affect the living Somali people” by failing to deliver justice.
Justice system gaps
The case highlights a deep conflict between Somalia’s formal state judiciary and its traditional clan-based justice system, known as Xeer. Under Xeer and some interpretations of Islamic law, a qisas (retaliation) sentence for murder is possible.
If proof is weak, parties may use qasāmah, a process of compurgation in which oaths are sworn to attest to innocence or guilt.
The judge specifically noted the victims’ family — Anshur’s family — refused to swear oaths. In Somalia’s hybrid system, this refusal often forces a case away from murder charges. It can lead to diya (blood money) payments or discretionary tacsiir sentences, according to legal analysts.
The Galgaduud court judge defended the Sunday verdict, saying the court heard arguments from both the Galmudug Attorney General’s office and the defense lawyers before issuing the tacsiir penalty.
The Galmudug Attorney General’s office did not immediately respond to questions on whether it would appeal the verdict. Defense lawyers for the three men maintained their clients’ innocence of the murder charges during the trial.
A cycle of violence
The four victims were killed as they slept in their home near Qaayib. Attackers described as militiamen shot them in the head, according to local reports. A fifth person in the house was wounded.
The killings are widely attributed to a cycle of aano qabiil, or clan-based revenge feuds. However, this has not been officially confirmed.
Galmudug and the surrounding central regions have long been an epicenter for such violence. Feuds, often over resources like water and grazing land, escalate into tit-for-tat killings that destabilize communities, according to reports from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
This incident is part of a recent spike in targeted killings in the region. In nearby Galkayo, attackers also murdered two doctors in separate incidents linked to clan revenge.
Gunmen shot Dr. Omar Abdi Dahir and fled. In a separate killing, a man wearing a military uniform and carrying an AK-47 entered a clinic and killed Dr. Zakaria Abdi Jama.
The Galmudug administration has not yet responded publicly to the father’s appeal for intervention.
