Somali leaders let the courts acquit 1961 coup plotters to prove judicial independence

Evidence

Second, an early signal that Africa’s first democrats were unusual leaders was the way they dealt with the 1961 coup leaders. Unlike any other leader elsewhere on the continent, they allowed the courts to have a free hand in dealing with the coup makers. Although Osman and Hussen vehemently disagreed with the court’s final judgment in acquitting the renegade officers, they decided not to take the case to the court of appeals. Instead, they let the verdict stand for the sake of national integration and, more importantly, to signal the independence of the judiciary in the new republic. — Abdi Ismail Samatar, Africa’s First Democrats, 1100