Yemeni Court Convicts “Pardoned” Journalist Al Khaiwani
In a stunning development Monday, Yemen’s Special Terrorism Court upheld the guilty verdict against journalist Abdulkarim al Khaiwani. The journalist had been pardoned by President Saleh on September 25, 2008 after spending months in jail.
Monday’s ruling affirmed Mr. Al Khaiwani’s conviction on the charges of “disseminating pro-rebel propaganda to local and foreign media” with the intent of adversely affecting “the morale of the military” and creating a social disturbance.
Mr. Al Khaiwani was the subject of a massive international campaign after he was arrested in July 2007 and falsely accused of “terrorism”. The state’s evidence consisted of journalistic materials-article notes and some photos. He was imprisoned June 9, 2008 after being sentenced to six years in jail. As the CPJ noted, “the case against al-Khaiwani was seen as retaliation for his criticism of the government’s fight against the rebels and his writing about government nepotism.”
Al Khaiwani was caught unawares by Monday’s ruling and expressed amazement at the outcome of the appeal trial. He noted that he had received a presidential pardon and formal assurances from the Minister of Justice and other judicial officials that the issue is closed.
Al Khaiwani said he did not receive any summons to attend the court hearing and had not received any notice of the continuation of the trial. “The court did not consider the appeal submitted by my defense relating to the change in the severity of the sentence after it was issued. We have documented with both audio and video evidence that the terms of sentence was increased after the original ruling in court,” he added.
Al-Khaiwani remains free at the moment and it is unclear what may follow; however the terrorism conviction is sure to substantially impact his future travels and employment.
