Foreign journalists have privileges locals don’t in Yemen
It is possible that so-called “Christmas Day bomber” Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab came to Yemen for Al-Qaeda terrorist training because it was out of the limelight. Until now, international media has sent in journalists intermittently to cover stories on Somali refugees or the Houthi rebellion in the North, but few foreign journalists are based here and the majority of coverage had come from local…
Attacks on the Press 2006: Yemen
YEMEN Presidential elections provided the backdrop for a series of troubling attacks against Yemen’s increasingly vocal independent and opposition press. As expected, President Ali Abdullah Saleh extended his nearly three decades in power by another six years, but the run-up to the September vote saw an upsurge in violence, intimidation, and legal harassment, along with…
Editor convicted and fined over Prophet cartoons
New York, December 6, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the conviction and fine handed down to a Yemeni editor today for reprinting Danish cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad. A court in the capital Sana’a convicted Mohammed al-Asaadi, editor-in-chief of the English-language weekly Yemen Observer, of insulting Islam and fined him 500,000 rials (U.S. $2,500).
Editor jailed for one year over Prophet cartoons
New York, November 28, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the one-year jail sentence handed down to a Yemeni editor for reprinting Danish cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad. A court in the capital Sana’a sentenced Kamal al-Aalafi, editor-in-chief of the Arabic-language weeklyAl-Rai Al-Aam on November 25. It also banned him from practicing journalism for six…
In Yemen, four journalists face prison
Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists wishes to express its grave concern about the criminal prosecution of four Yemeni journalists facing lengthy prison terms if convicted under Yemen’s press law for publishing controversial cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad. Their newspapers have all been ordered closed.
Journalists in Yemen and Algeria arrested over prophet cartoons
New York, February 13, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by the arrest of three journalists in Yemen and two in Algeria for publishing controversial cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad. Their newspapers have all been ordered closed. Mohammed Al-Asadi, editor-in-chief of the Yemen Observer, has been detained by the office of the print and…
Yemeni, Malaysian newspapers closed after running prophet drawings
New York, February 9, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the closing of two Yemeni newspapers and a Malaysian paper after they published controversial cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad. At least four governments have now taken punitive action against newspapers or their editors for publishing some of the 12 cartoons that have sparked protests and…