Broad condemnations against journals and journalists [Archives:2006/920/Front Page]
SANA'A, Feb. 12 ) The Southeast Court in Sana'a issued a ruling of imprisonment against Khalid Salman, Editor-in-Chief of Al-Thori newspaper, the Socialist Party mouthpiece. Salman received a two-year prison sentence and is banned from writing in any newspaper for six months, under judgment of arrest.
The court also sentenced journalists Nabil Sobaie and Fikri Qasim to a year's imprisonment and banned them from writing in any newspaper for six months, under stay of execution.
The court issued its rulings on the three journalists in cases filed against them for offending the president by their writings against corruption, deteriorating health and living standards and administration failures.
Following the court's ruling, Basim Al-Sharjabi, lawyer for Al-Thori and the journalists, told media, “The problem of the imprisonment and stay of execution sentences is that they are unnatural sentences in an unjust trial. Al-Thori newspaper writers faced unequaled litigation with the president, who heads the Supreme Court and has the right to appoint and remove judges.”
In a statement following the court sentences, the London-based Yemeni Human Rights Organization (YHRO) denounced Yemeni authorities' imprisoning and banning journalists from writing due to their opinions.
YHRO called on journalists and human rights organizations to intervene to stop Yemeni authorities from executing the sentences. It said the rulings were a frustration to international expectations of Yemen's improvement with respect to freedom and human rights. The organization called on President Saleh to live up to his commitment to lift restrictions on journalists and journalism.
It added that the trials reveal that Yemeni authorities do not respect their commitments to the international and regional communities. Such commitments, made at conferences held in Yemen, called for respecting human rights and releasing freedoms.
In its meeting at the Women Journalists Without Constraints center, the Civil Society Coalition also condemned instigation of threats against journalists by the weekly Al-Dastoor, a pro-government military and security newspaper.
The international Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) also condemned closure of the Yemen Observer and Al-Raay Al-Aam newspapers.
In related news, press and publication prosecution arrested journalist Mohammed Al-Asaadi, Editor-in-Chief of English newspaper the Yemen Observer, for interrogation about its republishing Danish newspaper caricatures satirizing the prophet Mohamed. Press prosecution also summoned Yemen Observer publisher Faris Al-Sanabani regarding the caricatures' republication.
The Ministry of Information suspended the licenses of three Yemeni newspapers for republishing the drawings: Al-Raay Al-Aam, Al-Huriah and the Yemen Observer.
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