Three journalists, including Guardian reporter Mohamed Bulbul, were arrested at a Mogadishu restaurant on Friday evening and beaten with pistols by members of Somalia's counter-terrorism police unit, before being released in the early hours of Saturday. Their detention is believed to be linked to Bulbul's reporting on Sadia Moalim Ali, a 27-year-old rickshaw driver who alleges she was tortured in Mogadishu central prison after being jailed for peaceful protest. The arrests are part of a broader crackdown on press freedom as Somalia's presidential term nears its 15 May expiry date, with the country already ranking 126th out of 180 nations on the World Press Freedom Index and recording more than 50 journalist deaths since 2010.