Russian entity in collaboration with Somali authorities demand corruption news report taken down

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Russian entity in collaboration with Somali authorities demand corruption news report taken down

MOGADISHU (HORN OBSERVER) - Startling revelations have emerged as documents expose the partnership between BPC Smart Vista FZ-LLC, a Russian-owned company under the proprietorship of Anatoly Loginov, and the Somali government in a lawsuit against jo

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Somalia Central Bank Governor, Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi (pictured right) paid over $1.4 to company owned by Russinan oligarchy, Anatoly Igorevich Loginov (pictured left).

MOGADISHU (HORN OBSERVER) - Startling revelations have emerged as documents expose the partnership between BPC Smart Vista FZ-LLC, a Russian-owned company under the proprietorship of Anatoly Loginov, and the Somali government in a lawsuit against journalists and a media organisation.

The collaboration, through the Office of the Somali Attorney General aims to intimidate journalists and implicate at least one media institution for reporting the missing funds for the first time after it had been uncovered by parliamentarians.

According to documents obtained by our reporters through parliamentarians, BPC Smart Vista FZ-LLC received substantial payments totaling $1,453,380 from the Somali Central Bank between January 1, 2020, and December 31, 2021. Mr. Loginov, along with the Somali Central Bank, initiated legal threat through the Attorney General’s Office.

The lawsuit specifically targets media outlets, including Horn Observer - an independent, non-for-profit and voluntary news portal covering the Horn of Africa and the world, focusing on Somalia., and prominent journalists Abdalle Mumin and Mohamed Ibrahim, who hold positions as trade unionists at the Somali Journalists Syndicate. Additionally, the legal threat mentions Hussein Ssegujja, a whistleblower who exposed corrupt dealings related to the Somali Payment Switch (SPS) and subsequently resigned as the general manager of the SPS.

Member of Parliament Abdullahi Hashi Abib, Chair of the Accountability and Transparent Caucus of the Somali Federal Parliament's House of the People, presented the incriminating report on the Russian company dealings with the Central Bank of Somalia. The document was further sent to a parliamentary investigative body.

Despite the substantial payments received, no tangible projects have been executed, raising concerns of misappropriation without accountability, according to lawmakers privy to the matter. Somali lawmakers are still demanding explanation about where the money had gone.

However, the lawsuit targets the journalists and specific media institution for "defamation" against the Central Bank of Somalia and the Russian-owned company, even though the issue was widely covered by various media outlets.

In the documents, both BPC Smart Vista FZ-LLC and the Somali Central Bank seeks the news story to be removed.

However, lawyers representing the journalists are yet to respond to the legal threat.

This case marks the first-ever involvement of a Russian entity attempting to silence journalists inside Somalia.