Mogadishu(Mogadishu24)-Office of the Attorney General of the Federal Government of Somalia on Monday revealed that it has conducted investigation into the bank account of Somali Journalists Syndicate(SJS) and frozen it following court order five days earlier.

The Attorney General’s Office said in a statement that SJS used fake license certificate for the registration of the account which was allegedly accused of crimes related to the country’s penal code and media law.

“The office will submit the case to the court when it completes the investigation, in accordance with the law”, the statement added.

The Office’s comment comes a day after the Somali Journalists Syndicates (SJS) released a statement, condemning the court’s order, describing it to be a breach of privacy at its bank accounts, aiming at to hinder the organization’s operation.

“On Saturday, 13 April 2024, SJS received an email notification from the local bank indicating that SJS bank accounts were “frozen” following a letter issued by the Banadir Regional Court ordering “the freeze of SJS bank accounts” and “investigation into our financial transactions”, SJS said in a statement.

The statement stated that the letter was never directly sent to SJS; instead, its addressees were the Premier Bank and the Office of the Attorney General. Nevertheless, SJS offices remain open.

“SJS condemns the continued persecution and threats against its staff and officials. We also condemn the breach of privacy of SJS management staff. As of yet, there has been no official communication informing SJS of any court case. However, should there be one, we are willing to respond and our lawyers are on standby,” said SJS President Mohamed Ibrahim.