SOMALIA: SOMALILAND COURT SENTENCES 8 TO DEATH

A military court in breakaway Somaliland has issued verdicts for 16 people accused of responsibility and complicity in the killing of Berbera Port Town Police Commander, Garowe Online reports. 
Armed assailants killed the late security commander in gun-attack in March this year.
Of the 16 defendants, 8 people were handed down death sentence, Somaliland Military Court Chairman Col. Yusuf Farah Sharmarke has announced on July 24. 
The remaining eight were given a 7-month prison sentence each for attack on the village of El Garde earlier this year.  
Lawyer Mohamed Jama Abdi told the reporters later in the day that they will appeal against the verdict since civilians unconstitutionally stood trial before a military court. 
The court decision follows a series of targeted killings against high ranking military officers inside Somaliland barracks in recent years.  
Somaliland, located in northwestern Somalia declared its independence from the rest of the country as a de facto sovereign state in 1991 but it has not been recognized internationally yet.