Al-Thawri case adjourned [Archives:2007/1046/Front Page]

Ismail Al-Ghabri
SANA'A, April 29 ) On Saturday, the Press and Printing Prosecution adjourned the investigation of a case the Ministry of Defense brought against the Yemeni Socialist Party-affiliated Al-Thawri newspaper for publishing an article and photographs dealing with the Sa'ada conflict.

The Defense Ministry claimed the photos were fabricated and from the Iraqi war, not Sa'ada. It also criticized journalist Abed Al-Mahthari's article entitled, “Ezrail's (the Death Angel) Kingdom,” accusing him of seeking to disturb public order.

Because Al-Thawri Editor-in-Chief Abu Bakr Abdulraziq Badheeb didn't attend the session, prosecution only investigated Al-Mahthari and then adjourned until May 5. In its lawsuit, the Defense Ministry requested arresting Al-Mahthari and Badheeb and referring them to the appropriate court, in addition to halting the newspaper's publication.

Al-Mahthari assured that the accusations against him are baseless, noting that the lawsuit simply is the military institution's attempt to suppress press freedom. The charges come within the framework of an authority-imposed media blackout concerning the more than three month long escalating Sa'ada war, wherein inhumane crimes are on the increase.

Also editor-in-chief of Al-Diyyar newspaper, which the Ministry of Information withdrew from the market months ago, Al-Mahthari was sentenced on March 11 to a year in prison for his opinions.
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