31 July 2017: Somali High Military Tribunal rejected an appeal case filed by a soldier who killed the country’s youngest minister Abbas Abdullahi Sheikh Siraji who was shot dead on May 3, outside the Presidential compound. The soldier Ahmed Abdullahi Abdi Aidid and another soldier, both the guards of now sacked former Auditor General Nur Farah Jimale were arrested by Presidential security guards at the night of the shooting of the minister. Both soldiers were charged with first degree murder by the Military Court in early June. On June 19th, the court sentenced Ahmed Abdullahi Abdi (alias Aidid) to death for shooting and killing the minister, and released the second defendant for lack of evidence. The convicted soldier then filed an appeal case. The case was later referred to Higher Military Court for review. During a hearing , the High Military Court judge upheld the death sentence. “Following the appeal case by the defendant Ahmed Abdullahi Abdi Aidid, the Higher Court of the Armed Forces reviewed the verdict and found the defendant guilty of murder and therefore the court upheld the death sentence against him”, Higher Military Court Judge Colonel Liban Ali Yarow said. The judge noted that the death penalty against the convicted soldier to be executed soon. The late Minister Abbas, 31, was the highest-ranking official killed by friendly fire. The late Abbas became the country’s youngest MP last November aged 31, when he defeated a former minister. (Source: Somali Update)