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Defendants charged in government courts now have access to free legal representation, as several local organisations that advocate for human rights and justice are co-ordinating the service with private lawyers.

"The people who take advantage of the free legal aid services we provide are the internally displaced persons and prisoners who cannot find lawyers to defend them or who cannot afford one," said Hawo Sabriye, deputy chairwoman of the Somali Women Lawyers Association (SWLA).

The SWLA is one of three organisations operating in Mogadishu that provides the service. Others include the Somali Women Development Centre (SWDC) and the Coalition for Grassroots Women Organisation (COGWO).

Sabriye said the organisations co-ordinate with private lawyers in an effort to provide protection to "vulnerable" defendants. She said representatives from her organisation visit government prisons regularly to see if anyone needs legal representation. SWLA takes on about 50 cases a month, Sabriye said.

This free service provides the legal representation to people who need it and are entitled to it, she told Sabahi. "[They] are able to exercise their rights, something that would not have been possible if legal aid was not available [to them]," she said.

Legal aid co-ordinators told Sabahi that the implementation of legal aid is helping to ensure civil rights are protected and justice is accessible for all.

Nadiya Abdi, head of SWDC's legal aid department in Mogadishu, said many civilians have accessed the service and it is providing a foundation for protecting human rights and justice in Somalia.

"When we meet people [under] police custody who have been charged within the legally stipulated time, we fight for them so that the proper legal recourse is taken," Abdi told Sabahi. "They should be charged or freed if there is no case against them."

Malaaq Wehliye, a 45-year-old who works as an independent real estate broker in Mogadishu, told Sabahi he could not afford legal representation and the free service he received from COGWO lawyers helped him regain his freedom.

Wehliye was held at the Banadir Regional Correction Centre over a civil land dispute and was released after lawyers from the COGWO legal aid department challenged his case. "The court released me when they could not prove the case against me," he said.

Lawyer Dahir Mohamed Ali, who works with the COGWO legal aid programme, said providing legal representation to defendants is new in Somalia.

He said organisations were not able to implement similar services in Mogadishu while it was under the control of al-Shabaab. Ali said al-Shabaab did not allow their prisoners to hire a lawyer or appeal a ruling delivered by their courts.

Osman Jeylani, a lawyer who lives in Mogadishu, told Sabahi that providing legal representation to defendants is one of the positive changes taking place in the city after al-Shabaab was driven out.

"There have been big changes to protect justice since al-Shabaab was forced out of Mogadishu," Jeylani said.

He said al-Shabaab did not allow prisoners to defend themselves, and the government and aid organisations are helping to create a more transparent system.

"When we look at government courts, there is a transparent justice, suspects have the right to defend themselves. They have access to lawyers who can provide free legal defence. That shows the difference between [the government and al-Shabaab]," he said.