Attacks on the Press - Committee to Protect Journalists

attacks on the press in 2009middle east and north africa: yemenAmid protests from journalists and human rights advocates, the country’sHigh Judicial Council established a special court in May to try cases related tomedia and publishing offenses, according to local press reports. More than 150cases, some dating to 2006, were immediately referred to the Press and PublicationsCourt, according to local press reports. In late October, in one of its first rulings,the court sentenced Munir Mawari, a Washington-based Yemeni journalistand contributor to the independent weekly Al-Masdar, to two years in prison oncharges of defaming the president, journalists told CPJ. The court also imposeda lifetime ban on practicing journalism in Yemen. The court handed a suspendedone-year jail term to Samir Jubran, editor of Al-Masdar, on the same chargeand banned him from writing or running his newspaper for one year. The casestemmed from a November 2008 opinion piece in which Mawari called Saleh’sleadership style a “weapon of mass destruction.”Mawari, who was tried in absentia, told CPJ that he discussed the “devastatingimpact” of a president who “prefers to see journalists taken to court insteadof those involved in»»Government censors newspapers,establishes new press court.t o p developments»»Two journalists jailed without charge; onemissing after being abducted.key statistic8Newspapers banned for periodsbeginning in May due to their coverageof unrest in the south.corruption.” He called theverdict a “message aimedat terrorizing journalistsand preventing them fromwriting about the president.”Al-Masdar said itwould appeal the verdict.Yemeni journalists questionedthe legitimacy ofthe press court, saying theconstitution makes no allowancefor the creation ofexceptional courts. Theyalso said the professionalbans handed down by the court were not grounded in Yemeni law.Two journalists were in jail when CPJ conducted its annual census of imprisonedjournalists on December 1. Security forces detained Fuad Rashid, editorin-chiefof the news Web site Mukalla Press, on May 4 in the southern city ofAl-Mukalla, the news outlet reported. Authorities did not disclose the basis forthe detention, although Mukalla Press had regularly covered unrest in the south.Salah al-Saqldi, editor-in-chief of the Gulf Aden news Web site, was seizedby security forces during a raid at his home in Khour Mikasr in Aden provinceon June 18, according to local news reports. Security forces confiscated his laptopand a camera. Gulf Aden had intensively covered the conflict in southern Yemen.According to local news reports, al-Saqldi was being held in a security servicesprison in Sana’a, but his family had not been allowed to see him. Authorities didnot disclose any charges, according to local news reports.Another journalist critical of the government disappeared. Muhammad al-Maqaleh, editor of Aleshteraki, a Web site affiliated with the opposition SocialistParty, was kidnapped by unidentified men on September 18, according to newsaccounts. Witnesses quoted in local news reports said that armed, masked menintercepted al-Maqaleh’s car in Sana’a, dragged him into their vehicle, and spedaway. The week before, al-Maqaleh had posted an article condemning militaryairstrikes that killed 87 people and injured more than 100. The victims wereinternal refugees, having escaped ongoing fighting in Saada City. Al-Maqaleh’swhereabouts were unknown in late year.Facing civil unrest not only in the south, authorities were acutely sensitive toany coverage they saw as critical of government actions. In July, the governmentlaunched a military operation against fighters with the Al-Huthi, a Shiite tribalgroup, in Saada region, northwest Yemen. The government has been fighting thegroup since 2004. In November, Saudi Arabia launched cross-border ground andair attacks against Al-Huthi rebels. Hundreds of civilians were killed and injuredin those attacks, according to news accounts.Al-Jazeera, which devoted extensive coverage to social unrest, was singledout by government leaders for criticism. “The Al-Jazeera channel has become asource for criticizing Yemeni society,” Masaad al-Lahibi, a member of parliament,was quoted in local press reports as saying in July. “It airs what is being providedto it by forces that are against Yemen and its blessed unity.”The station reported several cases of harassment and attacks. On June 22, forexample, masked men stoned the station’s Aden correspondent, Fadel Mubarak,causing head injuries, journalists told CPJ. The assailants also stole Mubarak’scamera. A month later, an unknown caller contacted Al-Jazeera’s Sana’a office andleft a threatening message for Bureau Chief Murad Hashem. “Tell the bureauchief that his death is imminent,” Hashem quoted the caller as saying.Government repression also targeted critical news Web sites. The newspapersAl-Masdar, Al-Tagheer, and Al-Share’ said in May that their Web sites had beenbriefly blocked domestically. Arafat Mudabish, editor-in-chief of Al-Tagheer, toldCPJ that he believed the site was targeted because of its coverage of the southernunrest. Mukalla Press, based in the southern province of Hadhramaut, was inaccessiblein Yemen throughout the year.International reporters descended in late year to cover the government’s responseto the local branch of Al-Qaeda, which had sponsored a failed ChristmasDay attack on a U.S.-bound airliner. Amid the country’s considerable civil unrest,Al-Qaeda’s activities had drawn little domestic coverage during the year.240241