Journalists 7th Sit-In
Really they are quite an amazing bunch.
SANA’A, June 27 — Journalists, human rights activists, as well as partisans and women leaders held a sit-in for the seventh time in front of the cabinet in the ” freedom Square” within the frame of the sit-in activities organized by the civil society organizations, protesting against blocking the SMS news services, and calling for releasing the journalist Abdulkareem Al-Khaiwani.
At the commencement of the sit-in, lawyer Khalid Al-Ansi, the executive manager of Hood organization for defending rights and freedoms, requested the audience to make a respected stance for the symbol of freedom, Al-Khaiwani.” Our fresh news this time, in this sit-in, is that Al-Khaiwani is detained,” Al-Ansi declared.
He also said,” We are having victory and we will continue till we achieve our complete demands. Al-Eshteraki and Al-Shora web sites have been unblocked and we will continue holding our sit-ins till the release of the SMS news services of Without Chains and Nass Press, as well as allowing the Without Chains Newspaper to carry on.”
For her side, Tawakul Kurman, the chairwoman of Women Journalists Without Chains, delivered a speech in which she said,” It a pity to have this sit-in held in the freedom Square.” “To call for releasing media means and insure a wide bias for practicing freedom of expression without any violations coincide with abducting Abdulkareem Al-Khaiwani, who is still in the precaution prison without charging him of any accusations.” She added.
“While we are holding this sit-in for the sake of freedom of expression and the right of having its media means, we salute journalist, Abdulkareem Al-Khaiwani, and announce our solidarity with him, considering him one of the pioneers of freedom of expression,” Kurman added. “The good pressmen are being violated, imprisoned, abducted, beaten, and wiretapped all over Yemen.” she elaborated.
However, during the sit-in, Dr. Abdullah Al-Faqeeh, Professor of political science in Sana’a University, said, “The Yemeni regime is portraying the Yemenis to the world to be a people of explosive belts, who are ready to explode themselves, as well as the world, calling the civil society to collate.” Al-Faqeeh also called the civil society to nominate Al-Khaiwani for Nobel Prize in its next turn. He also suggested preparing a letter draft of nomination and contacting the human rights organizations to support the Yemeni nominee for the prize.
He went on to say,” The prevention of having media means in Yemen suggests depriving the Yemenis from taking creative actions and transforming them to consumers of behavior examples and virtues as well as values of others. He also questioned how his regime could allow its citizens to have broadcast channels while it fears from 70 –letters messages.
