New York, December 9, 2005—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the beating and intimidation of Mohammad Sadiq al-Odaini, head of a Yemeni independent press freedom group. Al-Odaini, secretary-general of the Center for Training and Protecting Journalist Freedom, told CPJ that earlier this week he was threatened at gunpoint by a man he recognized as a…
New York, December 7, 2005—The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by an apparent government attempt to intimidate journalists from the independent daily Al-Ayyam by sending elite Yemeni Republican Guards to its Aden office. Around 1 a.m. on December 5, five soldiers in a gray-blue Mercedes circled Al-Ayyam’s headquarters several times before asking to meet…
New York, December 1, 2005—The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by the legal harassment of opposition and independent newspapers over the past month by the Yemeni authorities, including the closure of one newspaper and a barrage of defamation lawsuits against others. The legal actions come amid a broader government crackdown on the media. Several…
NOVEMBER 19, 2005 POSTED: December 2, 2005 Al-ThawryFikri Qassim, Al-Thawry Salahaddin al-Dakkak, Al-Thawry LEGAL ACTION A Sana’a court fined the opposition weekly Al-Thawry one million Yemeni riyals ($5,500) for defaming two government officials. The newspaper already faced 13 defamation charges for criticizing the authorities and risked being closed down if convicted on any one of…
New York, November 4, 2005—The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply concerned by the failure of the Yemeni government to investigate the severe beating of cameraman Mujeeb Suwailih by Yemeni police officers on October 29. Attacks on the press have intensified throughout 2005, but the Yemeni government has not prevented or seriously investigated them, CPJ…
Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by the shocking abduction and assault of a Yemeni newspaper editor this week in the capital, Sanaa. Four men seized Jamal Amer, editor of the weekly Al-Wasat, as he returned home from his office at 5:30 a.m. on Tuesday. Amer told CPJ that the men bundled him into a waiting car, blindfolded and bound him, and, after changing cars, drove him to a desolate area outside of the city. Amer said the men beat him with their fists and accused him of getting funding from the U.S. and Kuwaiti embassies, Amer said. One of the men warned him about defaming unspecified “officials.”
AUGUST 23, 2005 Posted: August 29, 2005 Jamal Amer, Al-Wasat ASSAULTED Four men seized Amer, editor of the weekly Al-Wasat, as he returned home from his office at 5:30 a.m. Amer told CPJ that the men bundled him into a waiting car, blindfolded and bound him, and, after changing cars, drove him to a desolate…
Dear Ambassador Al-Hajjri: The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by the continuing detention of two Yemeni media support staff members, Munif and Naif Damesh, who now have been held without charge for over a month. We wrote to Minister of Interior Rashad Muhammad al-Alimi on April 21, requesting Yemeni officials make public the reason for their detention. We have not received a reply to that letter.