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Five former officials appeared before Hargeisa's regional court Monday (April 16th) on charges of misappropriating food aid.

The defendants include Ahmed Elmi Bare, former director general in the Ministry of Resettlement, Ahmed Omar Haji Abdullahi, former Maroodi Jeeh regional governor, and Osman Said Jama, a former advisor to Vice President Abdirahman Abdullahi Ismail.

The men, who pleaded not guilty, were arrested on March 10th after being formally dismissed from their respective posts by a decree from Somaliland President Ahmed Mohamed Silanyo.

"The president of the republic of Somaliland has decided to dismiss the three officials from their responsibilities after being satisfied that they were involved in the misappropriation of food aid," said government spokesman Abdullahi Mohamed Dahir in a statement last month.

Ahmed Ali Guled, head of the Somaliland Welfare Association, who was responsible for distributing the relief food, and Abdishakur Abdi Nur, the owner of a warehouse in Hargeisa, were also arrested and are facing trial.

Attorney Mohamoud Abdirahman Nur, one of five lawyers representing the suspects, said the defendants are charged with taking 2,500 bags of rice and 400 cartons of beans.

The food was part of a 1,000-metric-ton shipment donated by Oman that also included clothes. The suspects are accused of re-routing the food to a private warehouse to be distributed for personal use, said Nur.

The five defendants, who appeared in court Monday, are among 13 people allegedly involved in the case, officials said.

"Suspects who are at large are being searched for by the security forces and anybody involving in this, whoever he is, will be brought before a court of law," Somaliland Attorney General Hassan Ahmed Aden, told reporters on Monday.

Aden said the law requires cases to be prosecuted within 45 days of arrest, and the suspects have been in custody for only a month. "[They] were not in remand for more than the period stipulated by the law … their rights were not violated," he said.

Abdihakim Mohamoud Shirwa, a journalist who attended the court hearing, told Sabahi the case has sparked a lot of public interest because it has set a precedent.

"This is the first case of its kind," he said. "It is the first time senior government officials accused of corruption, were dismissed, arrested and taken to court in the history of Somaliland."

On Monday, only three of the 28 witnesses in the government's case testified in court, Nur said. He told Sabahi the trial has been adjourned until April 21st.

"I hope that justice will be served," he said.