Attempted arrest of journalist Abdel Rahman Khobara

On 28 September 1996, plainclothes police officers entered the main offices of the opposition newspaper “Al-Ayyam” in Aden in an attempt to arrest journalist Abdel Rahman Khobara without a warrant. Colleagues who were present quarrelled with the officers, noting that Khobara could not be lawfully taken into custody without official court orders. The officers eventually […]

On 28 September 1996, plainclothes police officers entered the
main offices of the opposition newspaper “Al-Ayyam” in Aden in an
attempt to arrest journalist Abdel Rahman Khobara without a
warrant. Colleagues who were present quarrelled with the
officers, noting that Khobara could not be lawfully taken into
custody without official court orders. The officers eventually
acquiesced and left the office without carrying out the arrest.
Although the officers chose not to detain Khobara by force, they
did lie in wait outside of the newspaper’s office until 5:00 a.m.
the next morning in an apparent attempt to detain him upon his
exit from the premises. Khobara was forced to remain inside the
office with a colleague for fear of arrest.

In his newspaper column for the bi-weekly “Al-Ayyam”, Khobara has
been an outspoken critic of Yemeni government policy over the
past year. During this time, he has also served as a
correspondent for Radio Kuwait for which he most recently issued
a report on public demonstrations that took place in the town of
Mukallah on 25 September. In 1995, Khobara was detained for
investigation by Political Security officials for four days in
connection with a news story he had aired on Radio Kuwait about
explosions at a government ammunition depot in Aden.

Recommended Action

His Excellency Ali Abdullah Saleh

President

Sanaa, Republic of Yemen

Fax: +967 1 246 201