Mohamed Abdi Aware (died 12 November 2009) was a high-profile Somali judge in the northern semi-autonomous

Puntland Puntland ( so, Puntland, ar, أرض البنط, it, Terra di Punt or ''Paese di Punt''), officially the Puntland State of Somalia ( so, Dowlad Goboleedka Puntland ee Soomaaliya, ar, ولاية أرض البنط الصومالية), is a F ...

region of

Somalia Somalia, , Osmanya script: 𐒈𐒝𐒑𐒛𐒐𐒘𐒕𐒖; ar, الصومال, aṣ-Ṣūmāl officially the Federal Republic of SomaliaThe ''Federal Republic of Somalia'' is the country's name per Article 1 of thProvisional Constituti ...

and a member of its Supreme Judicial Council. He was assassinated outside a

mosque A mosque (; from ar, مَسْجِد, masjid, ; literally "place of ritual prostration"), also called masjid, is a place of prayer for Muslims. Mosques are usually covered buildings, but can be any place where prayers ( sujud) are performed, ...

in Bossaso, capital of Puntland. Sheikh Mohamed Abdi Aware was notorious for sentencing many

Islamists Islamism (also often called political Islam or Islamic fundamentalism) is a political ideology which posits that modern states and regions should be reconstituted in constitutional, economic and judicial terms, in accordance with what is c ...

from Al-Shabaab and other rebel movements as well as tens of pirates and

human traffickers Human trafficking is the trade of humans for the purpose of forced labour, sexual slavery, or commercial sexual exploitation for the trafficker or others. This may encompass providing a spouse in the context of forced marriage, or the extra ...

and putting them into jail. It is thought that his murder was in retaliation to some of these sentences. Police reports two masked gunmen shot him.BBC News: Gunmen kill Somalia pirate judge
/ref> He suffered injuries to his head and chest and died instantly.

References

2009 deaths Somalian judges Assassinated Somalian people Year of birth missing {{Somalia-bio-stub