Al-Sahwa [Archives:2008/1128/Press Review]
Thursday, February 7
Top Stories
– At least policeman injured, others arrested in Aden land disputes between Works Camp and military police personnel
– Government assures donors of reinforcing sales tax law while tradesmen vows to sue it
– A new strike at Aden refinery suspended as management promised to meet strikers' demands
– Hodeida journalists sue Local Council Secretary General for violating Press Law
– Minister of Water and Environment discovers Sana'a Sanitation Network's faults
– Banking Law amendments require strong Yemeni economy
Journalists exposed to intimidation
The weekly quoted Committee to Protect Journalists (CPI) as saying that journalists covering a rebel insurgency and government corruption were subjected to a frightening array of violent attacks and politically motivated court cases. Threats against independent journalists continued at an alarming rate, taking on an almost routine air. Perpetrators, for the most part, went unpunished.
Since 2004, the government has been combating a regional insurgency led by tribal and religious figures in the northwestern Saada region. Until a tenuous cease-fire was reached in June, hundreds of civilians had been killed and thousands displaced during the three-year conflict. Yemeni authorities continued to respond aggressively toward journalists who tried to report independently on the fighting. Government forces prevented journalists from entering the region to cover the conflict, effectively imposing a media blackout.
At least one journalist became ensnared in the government's attempt to stop coverage of the conflict. In June, in one of the year's most troubling press freedom incidents, Yemeni authorities stormed the home of Abdel Karim Al-Khaiwani, editor of an opposition news Web site and former editor of the online newspaper Al-Shoura. Al-Khaiwani was hauled before a State Security Court on vague terrorism charges that carried a possible death penalty.
In court, the government made a slew of unsubstantiated accusations, reinforcing the belief among Yemeni journalists and political observers that the editor's arrest was an attempt to punish him for his unrelenting criticism of the fight against rebels in Saada, as well as his writing about government nepotism. The preliminary evidence against Al-Khaiwani consisted of photographs of the fighting in Saada, an interview and contact with a rebel leader, and news articles, including one written by Al-Khaiwani that criticized President Ali Abdullah Saleh.
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[archive-e:1128-v:15-y:2008-d:2008-02-11-p:press]
