Journalist Hassan Hanafi, who joined al-Shabab was executed on April 11, 2016 at the Mogadishu Police Academy in Somalia. He was condemned for his involvement in the murder of at least five Somali journalists between 2007 and 2010. Hassan Hanafi confessed his crimes, according to Abdulahi Hussein, an executive from the military court, cited by French Press Agency (AFP).

Hassan Hanafi was arrested in 2014, in Kenya and extradited to Somalia. According to testimonies of many journalists present during the execution, Hanafi struggled forcing the police to tie him before shooting him. Two days earlier, two other al-Shabab members were executed for murdering at the end of 2015 a broadcaster of the Somali national TV.

Somalia is one of the most dangerous countries for media professionals. Since 2007, at least 45 Somali journalists were killed. In 2015, Reporters without Borders ranked Somalia 172th out of 180 countries in the threat to freedom of press global ranking.