Former Somali colonel living in Ohio denies torture claim brought by human rights lawyer

Ohio immigrant denies torture claim from Somalia

COLUMBUS, Ohio — A former Somalia military colonel who lives in Ohio is rejecting the claims of a lawyer who says the colonel ordered his detention and torture in Somalia in 1988.

Abdi Aden Magan (AB’-dee AH’-den mah-gen) of Columbus says he’s immune from prosecution in the United States and his accuser waited too long to sue him.

Magan also said in a federal court filing Friday that the complaint should have been brought in the country of Somaliland or Kenya, which could hear cases arising from Somalia.

Magan says he faced his own ordeal in Somalia and had to flee in 1991 after falling out of favor with the government.

Abukar Hassan Ahmed (ah-BUK’-ar HASS’-ahn AK’-med) had claimed in an April lawsuit that Magan authorized his torture while Magan was investigations chief of a force dubbed the “Gestapo of Somalia.”