League to Defend Journalists elects new director [Archives:2003/680/Local News]

Sanaa, Oct 26 – The Sanaa-based League to Defend Journalists elected last week Mr. Mohamed Sadiq Al-Odaini as its new director. The league, which consists of senior editors and journalists representing a number of newspapers, was formed as a result of an initiative of those journalists to start a project that is expected, according to their founders, to grow and become Yemen's largest journalist organization that is totally independent and does not have any commitment to the state or any political party.
Asked whether it was endorsed by the Ministry of Culture of Information, Mr. Al-Odaini told Yemen Times that the league is an independent body that needs no permission or license to operate because it is a mere effort to organize journalists' moves and bring joint stances in protection of editors and writers throughout the country.
“The league, which includes editors of Al-Wahdawi, Al-Sahwa, Al-Tajammu, Al-Umma, Sawt Al-Shura, plus correspondents of Arab and foreign news providers, was established as an attempt to bring about an organization that would promote professional journalism and implant values of honest and accurate reporting and respect to journalists and their rights to report the facts to the public transparently and without being subject to any pressure or prosecution.”
Mr. Mohamed Sadiq is a writer and activist among many journalists, who were harassed, detained, and subjected to assassination attempts in the past.
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