Journalist Murdered for Article
Murdered!!!!
Killers harbored by influential officials.
SANA’A, July 5 — In a statement released Monday, the Yemeni Journalists Syndicate (YJS) denounced the murder of Abed Al-Usaili, a journalist and technical secretary at Al-Nahar newspaper. The 27-year-old journalist was killed Sunday evening in his birthplace, Belad Al-Qabael in Al-Haima district in Sana’a.
The syndicate urged the Ministry of Interior to arrest the perpetrators immediately, transfer them to court and examine the motives behind the crime.
The YJS statement confirmed that the journalism community knew Al-Usaili as a talented journalist and contributor to many local newspapers before his murder.
In a statement, Al-Nahar newspaper mourned the loss of the prominent writer and demanded that concerned parties hunt the perpetrators, capture them and refer them to court to be sentenced for their crime.
The statement asserted that Al-Usaili was killed for publishing a short article entitled, “The Country of Tribes Suffers,” in the newspaper’s June 22 issue No. 210. The piece criticized Al-Haima district officials for obstructing a water project underway in the area.
Following a dispute about the water project, the tribe to which Al-Usaili belonged had reached a truce with another tribe and under this truce, their dispute was settled via reconciliation.
Press sources affirmed that armed men observed Al-Usaili during the night and shot him dead over his critical article. Security authorities dispatched 16 police vehicles to the area where the incident occurred, but haven’t arrested those involved in the crime because they are being harbored by influential Al-Haima officials.
More: Sana’a- 03- 07- 2006: Al Nahar art director Abed al Esseily was murdered yesterday at the hands of two gunmen who ambushed him at his home-village of Bilad al Qabael; Sana’a. Once al Esseily appeared at their gunpoint, they stormed him with their fire and left him to bleed to death. The army then sent 16 units to get the gunmen, but they failed to capture them, allegedly because the murderers sought refuge at local notables’. Al Ishtiraky.Net alleges that the attack is related to articles published in al Nahar about governmental officials impeding an irrigation project in the area.
Abed al Esseily, 28 year old, a father of a two year old child, has been known for his creativity and his refined techniques. The press syndicate issued a declaration condemning the act and demanding the swift arrest and trial of the perpetuators of the attack. APFW expresses its sorrow and rage with the attack and insists that the criminals should be brought to justice.
IRIN: And in Yemen, independent Arabic-language weekly Al-Nahar mourned the death of one of its journalists, Abed al-Usail, who was shot by unidentified assailants on 2 July in the Sana’a governorate. The Yemeni Journalists Syndicate condemned the killing of the 27-year-old reporter and demanded that authorities carry out immediate investigations. According to Al-Nahar, the incident came after al-Usaili wrote an article critical of local government officials. Security sources say investigations are ongoing.
On 6 July, opposition weekly Al-Shoura condemned a death threat received by one of its journalists, Ahmed Taha, in the northern Amran governorate. Taha said his life had been threatened by the relatives of a 50-year-old Sheikh accused of raping an eight-year-old girl on 20 February. Supporters of the Sheikh allegedly demanded that Taha stop reporting the details of the incident. The Sisters Forum, a local NGO that has taken on the case of the raped girl, meanwhile, also denounced the death threat, calling on the authorities to provide protection for the journalist.
