Yemeni Journalists Syndicate [Archives:2004/745/Local News]

The Yemeni Journalists Syndicate board held last Sunday its regular monthly session presided over by the President Mr. Mahbood Ali. The session was dedicated to discussing ongoing developments in connection with freedom of the press following the directives of President Saleh to amend the Press and Publishing Law leading to the cessation of the imprisonment of journalists.
The session was suspended following the decision issued for the compulsory arrest of the colleague Mr.Naif Hassan, and the detention of Editor-in-Chief of “Al-Asboua” newspaper Mr. Jamal by the Press Prosecution.
The Board has invited the editors-in chief of private and government newspapers and mouthpieces of political parties to a broad meeting on Wednesday June 9th at 11:00AM to look into the situation of the profession toward avoiding quarreling and wrangling among the members of the Yemeni press.
The board, on a final note, granted a grace period of one week that expires on June 13, to decide permanently on the resignation letters of the two colleagues, Mr. Hassan Abdul Wareth and Mr. Ahmed Al-Jably from membership in the board, which were submitted three months ago.
Monday, 31 May 2004- The Yemeni Journalists Syndicate issued a statement relating to a recent verdict issued by South Eastern Preliminary Court in Sana'a Secretariat in the case filed against “Al-Shamoua” weekly private newspaper. The court ordered the newspaper to shut down for a period of one month and to pay a 50 thousand Riyal fine.
“The verdict came at a time several private and affiliated political parties newspapers are subjected to weekly court sessions and questioning on publishing related cases”, said the statement.
“YJS sees that the closure decisions are a violation of the objectives of the press law to establish a more independent newspaper to bear their social, political and economic roles in serving society”, the statement concluded.
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