In Yemen, press freedom worst in 20 years
One opinion was relayed to me repeatedly by numerous journalists, lawyers, and human rights defenders during the week I just spent in Yemen: The crackdown against independent and opposition media in the country has not been this concerted at any time since the unification of the southern and northern halves of the country in 1990.
CPJ welcomes editor’s release in Yemen
We issued the following statement after learning that Hisham Bashraheel, editor of the daily Al-Ayyam, who has been in custody since January 6, was released today for what colleagues described as “health reasons.” The release comes one week after CPJ called on President Saleh of Yemen to release a number of journalists who are in…
Attacks on the Press 2009: Yemen
Top Developments • Government censors newspapers, establishes new press court. • Two journalists jailed without charge; one missing after being abducted. Key Statistic 8: Newspapers banned for periods beginning in May due to their coverage of unrest in the south. Continuing a steady years-long decline, Yemen became one of the most repressive countries in the…
Saleh uses security as cover to quash press freedom
Ministers and officials representing some 20 Western and Arab governments and international financial institutions declared themselves “friends of Yemen” during last week’s closed-door meeting in London to address threats posed by Al-Qaeda in Yemen, according to news reports. Participants, including U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, offered assurances that the international community, in addition…
In Yemen, editors detained as siege of newspaper continues
New York, January 6, 2010—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the arrest today of the editor-in-chief and managing editor of the independent daily Al-Ayyam on the third day of a government siege of the compound that houses the paper’s offices in Aden.
Yemeni editor held incommunicado, critical newspaper sued
New York, May 8, 2009–Amid an increasing crackdown on the media in Yemen, the Committee to Protect Journalists called today for the Yemeni authorities to disclose the whereabouts of a journalist who has been held incommunicado since May 4 after he was arrested in southern Yemen. CPJ also called on the authorities to drop a…