The Worst Day for Press Freedom in Yemen
SANA’A,Newsyemen
The State Security Specialized Court sentenced on Monday the journalist Abdul-Karim al-Khiwani to six years in jail. Security forces immediately arrested al-Khiwani who was freed on bail during his trial over charges of terrorism and writing articles against the personality of president Saleh.
Al-Khiwani was tried along with 14 others in the so-called “the Second Sana’a Terrorist Cell”. The court also sentenced one of the convicts to death and others were sentenced to different terms.
Al-Khiwani was selected by the Amnesty International for its award “Journalists at Risk”. He was supposed to receive the award in the coming few days. Many local and international organizations condemned the trial of al-Khiwani and demanded that the Yemeni government drop all charges against him.
The Yemeni Journalists Syndicate (YJS) denounced the sentence and said it was “cruel and unexpected”. First deputy chairman of the Yemeni Journalists Syndicate Saeed Thabet said the sentence was very harsh and surprised all journalists in Yemen. Thabet hoped that Appeals Court will reconsider the sentence and quit al-Khiwani who did commit no crime, he said.
Head of the Rights and Freedoms in the YJS and chief editor of al-Neda’a newspaper, Sami Ghalib, said the sentence is “political”
“The judge did say nothing about al-Khiwani. He did not convict him, he just sentenced him to six years in jail, and this indicates the verdict is extremely political”, said Sami Ghalib, head of the Rights and Freedoms in the YJS. Ghalib said “today is the worst day for freedom of press in Yemen”.
Chief Editor of al-Wasat newspaper, Jamal Amer, said the court issued that “harsh sentence despite international calls and condemnations.”
Journalists who attended the verdict session were surprised and said the judiciary proved it is not independent yet but it follows the political regime and invented charges against al-Khiwani.
