More international pressure to release journalist [Archives:2004/775/Front Page]

International pressure on the Yemeni authorities to release journalist and editor of al-Shoura, Abdulkareem Al-Khaiwani, is mounting by the day. A letter of protest, issued by the New York Based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), was sent to President Saleh and other copies were sent to the White House and to several international institutions concerned with freedom of the press.
In the letter, the CPJ expressed its concern over the imprisonment, which it viewed as “retaliation for his [al-Khaiwani's] newspapers' published work” which constitutes “a flagrant violation of internationally recognized norms for freedom of expression.”
The well-known international organization emphasized that Journalists “should never be imprisoned for what they write, even if their work offends authorities.”
The CPJ also reminded the President that in June this year, he announced that he “would seek to end the penalty of imprisonment for press offenses, which would be a major step forward for press freedom in Yemen.”
The letter concluded with a plea to the President to fulfill his promise in prohibiting the imprisonment of journalists for writing-related cases, and to do everything in his power to ensure that al-Khaiwani is immediately released from prison and that the charges against him are dropped.
——
[archive-e:775-v:13-y:2004-d:2004-09-23-p:front]