Outlawing Journalism [Archives:2005/896/Viewpoint]
Editor
Apparently the reason why Yemeni journalists are being prosecuted by the national security is that they have broken the law; the press law of that is. President Ali Abdullah Saleh during his meeting with President Bush commented on this by saying that he is aware of the persecutions taking place as they are direct implementation of the law. Only now he is considering change in the press code so as to change the penalties against journalists from imprisonment to financial fines. Instead of journalists and daring media personnel being directly imprisoned, they would be fined and since the living standard of such profession is lowest of the low they would be eventually imprisoned for their inability to pay the enormous fines. So what's new in the so-called enhanced press law is that it has acknowledged the violations and made them legal. Yet no matter how fines or imprisonment could be made legal there is no justification of the brutality these journalists are facing either in prison or outside it.
The latest incident was the stabbing and battering of opposition journalist Nabil Subie earlier this week. Apparently there were a group of masked criminals, but whom are we kidding? Nabil has been facing endless threats during his career as a daring journalist. And here he is following the long list of assaults against media people. According to the Media Rights Center in Sana'a there have been 72 violations in the first half of this year only. Critical writing against the authorities and corrupt officials has taken its toll on such influential people that their anger seems to be mounting by the day. Today there is even stabbing and life-threatening crimes while just one week ago these were limited to battering and persecution. At this rate journalists would certainly start disappearing and working in free media in Yemen would be a quest for a speedy death and an express pass to heaven.
In many developing countries where freedom of media is as limited as it is in Yemen the authorities seem to be a little more discreet while performing their acts against freedoms and human rights. For us, we seem to take pride in the on going trend to the extent that we admit internationally that we know it is going on, in fact as a government, the government of yemen is taking measures to make it legal in order to silence journalists and potentially outlaw their practice.. I wouldn't be surprised if army personnel and national security would be given badges to wear on their decorated uniforms indicating a “license to kill Journalists”. Mr. Nabil has no case and neither would any violated journalist have against a government which legislates murder for no crime. So I guess journalists would have to seriously consider death as a reward for their lashing pens, it could be just around the corner. Even in the remote possibility that the state has nothing to do with these violations, it is enough a crime that these murders take place under the noses of the police. If the government cannot protect its people then why have a national security to start with? One last thing to say, if you thought that democracy in Yemen is progressing, you couldn't have been more mistaken.
——
[archive-e:896-v:14-y:2005-d:2005-11-21-p:view]