Journalist Hassan Al-Zaidi of Yemen Times, was illegally arrested yesterday with orders from the Political Security Office (PSO). “We have orders to arrest anyone with the surname of Al-Zaidi” was the excuse given by the security officer who arrested A-Zaidi just after leaving the YT premises to have lunch. “I cannot accept this type of collective punishment, simply because I belong to the same tribe.” said Al-Zaidi. Yemen Times contacted the Yemeni Journalists Syndicate consequent upon the arrest of Al-Zaidi, and sent a letter to Mr. Mahboob Ali, the Chairman of the syndicate who said, “I condemn this illegal arrest of Al-Zaidi, who has the right, first as a citizen before being a journalist, to know what his crime is and on what basis he was arrested. We are currently exerting great efforts to release Al-Zaidi and to know why this illegal action was taken.”
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