**Updates previous IFEX alert of 24 February 2000** (CPJ/IFEX) – CPJ is protesting the 22 February 2000 suspension of the opposition weekly newspaper “Al-Wahdawi” and the banishment of Jamal Amer, the paper’s columnist and editor, from the journalistic profession. On Tuesday 22 February, a Sanaa court ordered the thirty-day suspension of “Al-Wahdawi” and permanently banned […]
**Updates previous IFEX alert of 24 February 2000**
(CPJ/IFEX) – CPJ is protesting the 22 February 2000 suspension of the opposition weekly newspaper “Al-Wahdawi” and the banishment of Jamal Amer, the paper’s columnist and editor, from the journalistic profession.
On Tuesday 22 February, a Sanaa court ordered the thirty-day suspension of “Al-Wahdawi” and permanently banned Amer from practicing journalism in Yemen for allegedly harming public interests, damaging relations between Saudi Arabia and Yemen, and offending King Fahd of Saudi Arabia.
The charges stemmed from a 10 August 1999 column, titled “The King’s Evacuation Complicates the Yemeni-Saudi Crisis,” that appeared in “Al-Wahdawi” under Amer’s byline. In the article, Amer analyzed power struggles that allegedly took place within the Saudi royal family during the summer of 1999, around the time when King Fahd embarked on an extended vacation to Spain, reportedly for health reasons. The author argued that such infighting could have a negative effect on the ongoing Yemeni-Saudi border dispute.
The court also fined Amer 5,000 rials (US$30). Both he and “Al-Wahdawi” intend to appeal the decision. The punishments are not expected to be implemented until an appellate court rules on the case.
On 12 August, two days after the article appeared, Yemeni police detained Amer at his home in the city of Ib and took him to the office of the Prosecutor General, where he was questioned. He was eventually transferred to a detention center for further interrogation and held for six days.
Recommended Action
Send appeals to the president:
– expressing the view that the suspension of “Al-Wahdawi” and the ban on Amer are
dangerous threats to press freedom in Yemen
– noting that censoring newspapers and stripping journalists of their right to work constitute flagrant violations of the right to free expression as guaranteed by international law
– reminding His Excellency that Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, in particular, guarantees journalists the right to “seek, receive, and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers”
– further noting with grave concern that the suspension of “Al-Wahdawi”, if carried out, would mark the third forced closure of a Yemeni newspaper by authorities in the last six months
– urging His Excellency to use his good offices to ensure that the ban on Jamal Amer and the suspension of “Al-Wahdawi” are reversed immediately
– asking the Yemeni government to adopt concrete measures aimed at halting the prosecution of journalists in Yemen in response to their professional work
Appeals To
APPEALS TO:His Excellency President Ali Abdullah Saleh
c/o His Excellency Ambassador Abdul Wahab al-Hajjri
Embassy of the Republic of Yemen
2600 Virginia Avenue, N.W.
Washington, DC 20037, USA
Fax: +202 337 2017Please copy appeals to the source if possible.
