Women journalists’ defamation condemned [Archives:2006/963/Front Page]

By:Yemen Times Staff

SANA'A, July 12 ) In a statement distributed Wednesday, the Yemeni Journalists Syndicate (YJS) condemned an article published by Al-Destour newspaper insulting female journalists Samia Al-Aghbari, Rashida Al-Qaili and Tawakul Abdussalam Karaman.

YJS Secretary-General Hafez Al-Bukari strongly denounced the rude words the paper used to insult the women journalists, confirming that the syndicate is ready to confront such inappropriate behavior.

In its Monday issue, Al-Destour weekly defamed presidential candidate Al-Qaili, Women Journalists Without Chains (WJWC) Chairwoman Karaman and Al-Aghbari, who works for Al-Wahdwai weekly.

WJWC expressed solidarity with the three women, who were subjected to disgrace, and condemned the newspaper's illegal act aimed at harming the three writers' reputations. WJWC called on all pressmen to back their sisters and sue Al-Destour for its defamatory article.

In a statement, WJWC said insulting Al-Aghbari targets every Yemeni woman, particularly civil community and civil rights activists. The statement added that WJWC urges all human rights organizations to express solidarity with Al-Aghbari and if such is implemented, it will be a victory for all Yemeni women, who constantly are terrorized to stop work or disappear from public places.

WJWC demanded the attorney general immediately summon Al-Destour's editor-in-chief for investigation over the defamatory language his newspaper used. It also urged the prospective YJS president to play a primary role in defending and supporting Al-Aghbari and other presswomen previously subjected to such insults by malicious newspapers.

Hamid Asem, Secretary-General of the Nasserite Popular Unionist Organization, one of Yemen's political parties, decried the badmouthing against the three women journalists, including Al-Aghbari, who is a member of the party's central committee.

“What Al-Destour published contradicts Islamic values and teachings and reveals the newspaper's loyalty to the regime,” Asem reacted. He expressed concern about the silence of concerned bodies, which have shown no reaction to the improper conduct causing harm to the three women journalists.
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