Government Harasses Opposition Press [Archives:1998/22/Local News]

More and more opposition newspapers are being harassed by the authorities, by one means or another. The Press and Publications Prosecutor (PPP) office has recently summoned the chief editor of Al-Shourah weekly newspaper, Mr. Noman Qayid Saif for publishing an article on 10 May that the authorities did not like.
Al-Thawri weekly – mouthpiece of the Yemeni Socialist Party – also has a case being reviewed by the PPP. The reason is also a series of very critical articles.
Some journalists also get arrested and beaten up because of what they write. Examples abound. There are at this time, under one excuse or another, six journalists in prison.
Finally, the government is now pushing newspapers to get additional licensing such as commercial registry, municipal, etc. In fact, some government officials have visited the Yemen Times last week for this purpose. The law, of course, stipulates that press licensing is done by the Ministry of Information.
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