First films, and now music has been banned in in parts of Somalia.

Authorities backed by the Islamic Courts Union in Jowhar, some 90 kilometers north of the capital, Mogadishu, shut Radio Jowhar on 11 September 2006, and ordered that its electricity be cut, according to The National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ) and international news reports.

Radio Jowhar is the only FM radio station in the town.

The Associated Press quoted an Islamic official, Sheik Mohamed Mohamoud Abdirahman, as saying that the station’s programmes were “un-Islamic” and that that Radio Jowhar was closed because it aired the “banned music”, music that promotes evil behavior. He said that it was “useless to air music and love songs for the people” and that “we cannot have a radio station playing evil music as we are trying to promote Sharia law across Somalia.”

He also underlined that anyone violating the music ban could be arrested, fined and flogged.

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