Armies of Liberation

London Info

Protestors carrying placards highlighting the plight of jailed journalists will be out and about in King Street, Hammersmith.

They will be part of a protest by Hammersmith and Fulham Amnesty International which is setting up a booth on Saturday, August 30 from 10.30am to 4pm.

The campaigners will focus on cases in the Yemen, Iran and Uzbekistan where journalists have been imprisoned.

These include that of Yemeni Abdul Karim al-Khaiwani who was due to visit London on 17th June to receive an Amnesty award for human rights journalism from BBC correspondent Alan Johnston.

He could not attend, having just been sentenced to six years in prison for his articles criticising government policy.

but but I thought reform was good!

Sahwa Net – General Union of Yemeni Student has condemned the arrest of three students again by security forces in Ibb University after they had been released last week.

Sources of the Student Union said that the three students, Majed al-Awdi, Walid al-Laith and Walid al-Sharabi were arrested because they wrote about corruption inside the university in a paper issued by the Student Union.

propagnda machine revs up

the GPC journalists are getting a raise, non-governmental journalists earn as little as $100/month

Plenary meeting for the GPC media men expected to be attended by about 400
Monday, 18-August-2008 al-Motamar: Under patronage of president Ali Abdullah Saleh , President of the General People’s Congress (GPC) a plenary media meeting will be held on Tuesday with participation of GPC media men working for the different media instruments of the GPC, and those working for the media and press of the political parties members in the national alliance.

An official source at the GPC sector for intellect, culture and information has made it clear that that the meeting to be attended by more than 400 journalists aims at assessing and unifying the information address of the GPC in the present stage in pursuit of achieving the national and organisational strategies undertaken by the GPC and contributing to winning development dues, enhancing the role of the media t6hat defends the national gains and democratic process.

The source said this organisational demonstration constitutes a tradition that the GPC would hold in a periodical manner that would help enhance bonds of communication and guarantee periodical assessment of the GPC press performance. The source added the participants would discuss a group of organisational documents and studies concerned with information and means for enhancing its national message that expresses hopes and ambitions of the Yemeni people who granted the GPC their confidence in parliamentary, presidential and local elections.

The meeting is also going to discuss a number of organisational, national and professional concerns in the manner serving to raise the level of media performance and preserve rights of journalists as well the professional legislations organizing the relations among all communication parties.

The source also expects that the meeting will come out with a strategic vision regarding the information address of the GPC and resolutions and recommendations accommodating all visions and treatments and means of developing the professional performance of the GPC press.

This month, imprisoned Yemeni journalist Abdulkarim al-Khaiwani gave an interview to a Qatari paper from jail. After it was published, prison officials threatened to kill him. They threw a rat in his cell and denied him all communication with his family. Al-Khaiwani who suffers heart disease and rampant diabetes has been denied his necessary medicines for ten days.

In his interview, he discussed his imprisonment and his experience over the last four years with the Yemeni judiciary.

AL-ARAB: First, can we know about the background of your imprisonment?

ABDULKARIM AL-KHAIWANI: The decision for my imprisonment came from the highest levels of government, instructions from above that derailed any real course of justice, from fabricated charges, to non-incriminating evidence such as compact discs and articles that were never published, to an unfounded verdict. All this was topped off with a legal flair – with the last paragraph of my sentence, which essentially insured the immediate effectiveness of my sentence. It was not something the judge himself ordered, but it was there, recorded by the cameras of thirteen different channels and news agencies.

AL-ARAB: Were you expecting a six-year prison sentence?

ABDULKARIM AL-KHAIWANI: My experience with the judiciary made me prepared for jail time, and what’s more, I knew the judiciary was not independent, and the court was an exceptional state security court, known to aim for convictions only… I knew it would be a court that did not look into the case or the defense prepared by the lawyers – no matter how good they were, or their arguments were. I was prepared.

A member of the former presidential committee for ending the war in Sa’da [a separatist region in north Yemen, Ed.], Abdo Al-Jindi, spoke live on Al-Jazeera a few months ago and said he would issue a verdict against me, convicting me.

Al-Jindi also expressed amusement about the terrorist charge that I was being convicted of, and I knew to expect that this was coming from some official side, and not from an independent judiciary with integrity.

Still, I had hoped that the judiciary would work to gain people’s trust by issuing just verdicts, especially in this case that has had such an impact on public opinion. But it seems that no one cares; they are just angered by the truth.

AL-ARAB: You appeared surprised in the media when the sentence was pronounced, as if you did not expect such a sentence? (Read on …)

Yay!!!

Wales on Line

CYNON Valley MP Ann Clwyd has asked the Foreign Office to do what it can to free a Yemeni journalist from jail, writes Mike Prosser.

She told Foreign Office Minister and fellow South Wales Valleys MP Kim Howells “The Yemeni constitution guarantees freedom of expression, but in reality that is not the case.

“Will you take up the case of Yemeni journalist Abdul Karim al-Khaiwani, who was sentenced to six years imprisonment on June 9,” she said.

“Amnesty International considers him to be a prisoner of conscience, as he has been convicted and sentenced solely because of something he wrote.

Mr Howells, responding to the Cynon Valley MP in the House of Commons, said: “I would be only too glad to take up this case.”

Issued by Article 19:

We, the undersigned organisations promoting and defending freedom of
expression worldwide, join ARTICLE 19 in condemning the deteriorating
state of freedom of expression in Yemen.
Yemen has made some progress in the human rights field over recent years
since its accession to the International Covenant on Civil and Political
Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural
Rights in 1987. Notably, civil society organisations, including NGOs
addressing human rights and social issues, have expanded and developed in
the country. Furthermore, the independent and opposition-supporting
newspapers which have been established have adopted a critical stance
towards state authorities, previously unheard of in the region.
Despite these positive developments, Yemen, a country where the
government has taken various measures to support the USA’s so-called “war
on terror”, has carried out hundreds of arrests of individuals suspected of
being members of Al Qaida. In the process, the authorities, mainly through
the security forces, have harassed, interrogated and occasionally even
detained journalists who had covered these arrests. After being warned
against reporting on these “security issues”, journalists first started to selfcensor
themselves out of a fear of being accused of supporting terrorism.
After a decrease in the number of arrests, journalists then began to reassert
their rights to freedom of expression. As a consequence they have faced a
fresh round of harassment, physical assaults, arrests and detention by
security forces which have been supported by the judiciary. This pattern of
repression, which peaked in 2005, continues at an alarming rate. Indeed, the
high number of violations recorded in the first half of 2008 demonstrates the
extent to which the right to freedom of expression has been eroded in
Yemen.

“ARTICLE 19 is alarmed by the serious undermining of freedom of expression in
Yemen,” says Dr. Agnès Callamard, ARTICLE 19 Executive Director. “We reiterate our
condemnation of the current conditions in Yemen that clearly violate Yemen’s
international obligations on freedom of expression”. ARTICLE 19 and the undersigned
organisations remain concerned about the following:
- In March 2008, the Ministry of Information ordered a ban on the newspaper “Al-Sabah”
for allegedly “threatening Yemeni unity and public order”.
- In April 2008, the Minister of Information withdrew the license of “Al-Wasat”, a daily,
for allegedly “threatening national unity”. The decision was later revoked in court.
- On 11 June 2008, the Yemeni State Security Court sentenced Abdelkarim Al-Khaiwani,
editor in chief of “Al-Shoura” to six years in prison. In a case perceived to be politically
motivated, Al-Khaiwani was tried for his coverage of the war in Sa’ada province which
was alleged to be a terrorist offence. In July, the court suddenly amended his verdict by
adding the phrase “expedited implementation”, thus obscuring the possibilities for his
appealing the earlier decision. On July 29, the Criminal Court decided to delay looking
into a request by Al-Khaiwani’s defence team to release him. The court session has been
postponed until November 2008. This decision has been criticised by lawyers in Yemen
as a significant violation of proper procedures.
- On 22 June 2008, Mohamed al-Mokaleh was sentenced by the Yemeni State Security
Court to a six-month suspended term in prison for “attacking and defaming the judicial
system” after bursting into laughter during the trial of Al-Khaiwani. Al-Mokaleh is the
General Secretary of the Socialist Party and a well-known critic of the Yemeni
government. He had already served two months in jail and was released on 22 June.
- On 9 July 2008, comedian-singer Fahd al-Qarni was sentenced to 18 months
imprisonment and a fine of YR 500,000 (approximately US$2,500) for “insulting
Yemen’s President, Ali Abdullah Saleh.” Al-Qarni had been targeted in the past. In July
2006, members of the Criminal Investigations Bureau arrested vendors of his cassette in
an effort to curtail its circulation. The cassette combines traditional folk compositions
with humour and criticism of the government’s policies. In addition, there have been
numerous attacks against journalists and activists outside the courts: earlier this year
YemenPortal.net was blocked by the authorities; Tawakkol Karman, director of the NGO
Women Journalists Without Chains, has received anonymous death threats; and activists
who were peacefully protesting against the above-mentioned court cases have been
harassed and have had their documenting equipment seized by the authorities.
We, the undersigned members of the International Freedom of Expression eXchange
(IFEX), reiterate our deepest concern over the continued undermining of the individual
human right to freedom of expression in Yemen and urge the Yemeni authorities to
reaffirm and live up to Yemen’s international human rights commitments, in particular
Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Yemen is also a
signatory to the Arab Charter on Human Rights which guarantees freedom of expression.
Moreover, the Yemeni government made public commitments to the protection of human
rights through its National Reform Agenda adopted in 2006.
We therefore call on the Yemeni state organs and authorities to take decisive and
immediate measures in accordance with international human rights law to uphold
freedom of expression in Yemen, particularly in relation to the cases outlined above.
The Yemeni government should:
- Refrain from banning or withdrawing licenses from newspapers on the grounds that
they “threaten Yemeni unity and public order”;
The Yemeni legislature should, upon the proposal of the Yemeni government:
- Repeal all legislation that establishes unduly broad conceptions of terrorist offences and
that criminalises the “insult” of politicians, the courts and individual members of the
judiciary.
The judiciary should:
- Allow Al-Khaiwani to appeal his six-year prison sentence and investigate the sudden
extension of Al-Khaiwani’s sentence;
- Overturn the verdict of the Yemeni State Security Court, as well as the amendment to
the verdict which allows “expedited implementation” of the sentence, so that Al-
Khaiwani is released from detention;
- Refuse to convict other individuals, especially journalists, who are exercising their right
to freedom of expression, of terrorist offences and/or for “insulting the judiciary”;
- Allow any appeal launched by Al-Qarni against his conviction for insulting the Yemeni
president and overturn the decision of the earlier court.
Furthermore, state police and members of the Criminal Investigations Bureau should:
- Refrain from harassing, intimidating, arresting, attacking or detaining any individual,
especially members of the press, for exercising their right to freedom of expression;
- Serve to protect individuals, especially journalists, exercising their right to freedom of
expression from violent attacks.
Sincerely,
Africa Free Media Foundation (AFMF), Kenya
Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI), Indonesia
Arab Archives Institute (AAI), Jordan
Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI), Egypt
ARTICLE 19, United Kingdom
Bahrain Center for Human Rights (BCHR), Bahrain
Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies (CIHRS), Egypt
Canadian Journalists for Free Expression (CJFE), Canada
Cartoonists Rights Network International (CRNI)
Center for Human Rights and Democratic Studies (CEHURDES), Nepal
Centro de Reportes Informativos sobre Guatemala (CERIGUA), Guatemala
Egyptian Organization for Human Rights (EOHR), Egypt
Free Media Movement (FMM), Sri Lanka
Freedom House, USA
Hong Kong Journalists Association (HKJA), China
Independent Journalism Center (IJC), Moldova
Institute for Mass Information (IMI), Ukraine
Institute for Reporters’ Freedom and Safety (IRFS), Azerbaijan
Institute for the Studies on Free Flow of Information (ISAI), Indonesia
International PEN Writers in Prison Committee (WiPC), UK
Journalists Trade Union (JuHI), Azerbaijan
Maharat Foundation, Lebanon
Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance (MEAA), Australia
Media Rights Agenda (MRA), Nigeria
Observatoire pour la liberté de presse, d’édition et de création (OLPEC), Tunisia
Paraguayan Union of Journalists (SPP), Paraguay
World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters (AMARC), Canada

Yemeni Security Forces has kidnapped the Journalist and Human Rights activist; Loui Al-Moaid on Monday, June 30th, 2008 at 11:00 a.m. and he was taken to The National Security building. Loui is infected with Hepatitis B virus (active) and we are concerned about his life since he might be tortured severely and there is no health care at all. (Read on …)

This is a disaster! Postponed until November? Even the court says he was sentenced to jail for writing articles and having CD’s of photos of the war dead.

News Yemen:

The Court of Appeals, specialized in terrorism issues, delayed looking into a request by the defense lawyer of journalist Abdul-Karim al-Khaiwani to release him until November 2008.

The court took the decision in an appeal session on Tuesday on the case of 15 people, called Sana’a Second Cell, convicted by a primary court of forming an armed group to attack country’s interests and supporting rebels in Sa’ada, north of Yemen.

The first convict Jafar al-Marhabi was sentenced to death and other 13 were sentenced to different terms in jail. Al-Khaiwani was sentenced to six years term in jail over “writing articles against the president and possessing CDs supporting al-Houthi’s rebellion and threatening the country’s interests”. The court quitted one of the convicts after he died inside the detention unit.

In Tuesday’s session, the Prosecutor demanded that the court refuses appeals of convicts, but defense lawyers demanded the release of their clients and canceling charges against them “as there is no an adequate evidence that the convicts met to form an armed group and committed criminal acts.”

As the vacation of the judges in Yemen starts on the 1st of August, the court adjourned the sessions until November 9, 2008.

Me too!

IFJ Renews Call for Justice for Yemeni Journalist Abdelkarim Al Khaiwani

Source: IFJ

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has congratulated Yemeni journalist Abdelkarim Al Khaiwani winner of Amnesty International’s “Sepcial Award for Human Rights Journalism Under Threat” and renewed its call for journalist organisations around the world to support Al Khaiwani as he challenges a six-year jail sentence handed down by the state security court.

“Abdul Karim is one our members and a very special member too,” said IFJ President Jim Boumelha “He is one of those rare breed of journalists, some of the bravest and the most determined - those who are prepared to sacrifice their personal and professional lives for the public good. Abdul Karim is convinced that standing up to bullies and having to face up torture and imprisonment can make the difference.”

(Read on …)

Yay! Now I know what everybody said.

SANA’A, NewsYemen

The Washington-based Arab al-Hurra TV on Sunday highlighted in its program “Eye on Democracy” the issue of Yemeni journalist Abdul-Karim al-Khaiwani who was sentenced a month ago to six years in jail.

The program hosted Yemeni journalist and columnist in Washington Muneer al-Maweri, the executive director of the American Islamic Congress, Zainab al-Suwaij, the Middle East Program Coordinator in Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), Joel Campagna, and the former Yemeni Journalists Syndicate chairman, Abdul-Bari Taher.

Al-Maweri urged to President Saleh to give al-Khaiwani a “humanitarian” pardon, accusing some Yemeni officials “who are encouraging violation of press freedom and abuses against journalists” of hurting the image of Yemen and President Saleh himself.

“I wonder how Yemeni authorities release convicted terrorists while they jail journalist al-Khaiwani and popular singer Fahd al-Qarni…We had hoped that Yemeni authorities would have dealt with al-Khaiwani in the same way it dealt with terrorists who were freed or got lenient sentences”, said al-Maweri.

Al-Maweri denied that judiciary has become independent and said that it receives and carries out directives from the executive authority. “How can a judiciary that let out Jamal al-Badawi and jailed journalist al-Khaiwani and activist al-Qarni be independent?” said al-Maweri.

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) senior Middle East Program Coordinator, Joel Campagna, said that alleged terror charges against al-Khaiwani were false. He said al-Khaiwani was convicted for writing about war in Sa’ada, north of Yemen, and criticizing the Yemeni government. The Yemeni government used terror charges against al-Khaiwani just to avoid international blame for jailing a journalist, he said.

Al-Suwaji also defended al-Khaiwani and said terrorism is to commit violence and kill innocent people and al-Khaiwani did neither. Al-Suwaji added that the AIC launched an international drive to press the Yemeni government to free al-Khaiwani.

Al-Khaiwani has critical articles against some of the government’s policies and violations against journalists and press freedom. He was jailed many times but receiving the latest six-year sentence along with other 12 convicted of supporting rebellion in north Yemen. Al-Khaiwani got last June 9 the award of the Amnesty International 2008 for “Journalists Under Threat”.

M&C: Sana’a, Yemen - A state security court in Sana’a imposed a media gag order Monday in the trial of three opposition leaders charged with stirring up violent protests in southern Yemen earlier this year.

Presiding judge Muhssien Alwan issued the order at the start of the second hearing into the case, saying that the gag order applied to both local and foreign media.

Police officers guarding the court’s gate prevented journalists from entering even before the judge issued the ban. When the highly publicized trial began on May 28, journalists were allowed into the courtroom.

Hassan Baoum, Yahya al-Shouaibi and Ali al-Gharib, all senior members of the opposition Yemeni Socialist Party, are charged with instigating civil disorder.

Protests and riots hit several southern Yemeni cities where disgruntled youths took to the streets in April to protest what they called discriminatory army recruiting policies against southerners.

The Yemeni authorities charge the three men incited violent protests and riots that hit several southern cities.

At least 13 people were killed and more than 70 were injured in clashes with security forces.

I have 26 killed, hundreds injured and several hundred imprisoned.

Update 1: Defense withdraws, and Baoum admits to calling for secesssion.

Sahwa Net –The defense of three political prisoners withdrew from the court on Monday as it decided imposing media ban in the trial. Journalists were prevented from attending the trial even before the judge issued the ban.

The three senior leaders of the Yemeni Social Party, Hassan Ba Oam, Yahya al-Shouaibi and Ali al-Gharib are charged with inciting violent protests and riots that hit several southern cities in this year . In the hearing, Hassan Ba Oam admitted that he had called to secession, and refusing Yemen’s regime and the trial.

Update 2: Two of three defense withdrew, one is a journalist.

The Ruling Party website (I guess the ban doesn’t apply to them.) The Court also decided banning publication that would affect the process of justice and permitting publication of only proceedings of the trial. The body defending the defendants withdrew from the court except the defence lawyer of defendant Hassan Baoum.

Defendant Ali Haitham al-Gharib claimed that this charge is a publication charge and that he is a journalist, demanding that his file be sent to the Press Prosecution but the chairman of prosecution replied to the defendant statement that the crime is against the security of the state.

(Read on …)

Fresh on the heels of the politicized trial of Yemeni journalist Abdulkarim al-Khaiwani, sentenced to six years for “an article liable to demoralize the military”, comes the conviction of Fahd al-Qarni, COMEDIAN. Seriously. From HAMSA’s C.R.I.M.E. report:

Fahd Al-Qarani faced the judge in the southern Yemeni city of Taiz. The nationally-beloved comedian-singer (dubbed by some the Adam Sandler of Yemen) was being charged by the government for “insulting Yemen’s president, Ali Abdullah Saleh.” To prove their case, prosecutors played a tape of one of his sketches. The entire courtroom burst out laughing – and prosecutors rushed to demand a recess as police intervened.

BTW, al-Qarni was given the opportunity to apologize to the ever sensitive President Saleh in order to gain his freedom. Al-Qarni refused saying, “I will not kneel.”

Clearly, Al-Qarani is a pretty funny guy. Because much of Yemen’s population is illiterate, his recordings reach a much wider audience than opposition newspapers, and his concerts draw thousands of spectators. One of Al-Qarani’s most popular sketches features a taxi driver who, though never named, speaks in a dead-on imitation of President Saleh. The skit is both hilarious and blunt: Yemen is being taken for a ride by a reckless driver.

While Yemeni crowds were laughing – inside and outside of courtrooms – President Saleh was not. After repeated attempts to silence Al-Qarani, the government won its case on July 9, as the comic was sentenced to 18 months in jail plus a $2,500 fine. But Al-Qarani seems to be relishing the notoriety of being sent to jail for being too funny. He called on his fans to come celebrate the verdict, and hundreds poured out into the streets demanding his release and a commitment by the government to protect freedom of expression.

In the showdown between Saleh and Al-Qarani, it remains to be seen who will get the last laugh.

Yemen Post

In a statement released last Saturday, Yemeni Journalists Syndicate (YJS) denounced on Saturday the suppressive security measures against journalists.

This comes as security forces arrested last Wednesday Al-Sahwa.net correspondent Saleh Al-Surimi and Mareb Press editing secretary Jabr Saber as they were covering the trial of comedian Fahd Al-Qarni.

Following arrest, both journalists were moved to the building of Taiz’s Security Office where they were detained for two hours. They were released later after the intervention of partisan and human rights activists.

In related news, the Yemen Post learnt from special sources that Minister of Justice Ghazi Al-Aghbari referred the letter submitted by the chairman of the Supreme Judicial Council Essam Al-Samawi to the Press and Printings Prosecution.

The letter included many partisan and private papers which it described as mocking, insulting and doubting the impartiality of judiciary. It also stated that these papers do not respect its sanctity.

This comes in preparation for filing lawsuits against numerous newspapers and writers, particularly after they published news and articles dealing with Al-Qarni’s issue.

Al-Qarni was sentenced last week by the Taizia Court to 18 month in prison as well as a fine mounting to $2500. Similarly, the Specialized Penal Court previously ordered jailing Journalist Abdul Karim Al-Khaiwani for six years.

Commenting on the recent move by the Supreme Judicial Council, Secretary of Freedoms Committee at YJS Hasan Al-Zaidi hinted that this is a dangerous pointer especially when it is issued by the highest judicial authority in the country, which is supposed to be the last resort for journalists to challenge the suppressive measures of the authorities.

Al-Zaidi hoped the current issues shall not create any crisis involving journalists on one hand and judicial authorities on the other, particularly when YJS wishes that judiciary will drop the charges against fellow journalist Abdul Karim Al-Khaiwani before Appeal Court.

YJS Deputy Chairman Sa’eed Thabet noted that ruling against Al-Qarni detects some shortcomings in the country’s judicial system, stressing the ruling is politicized.

After issuing the verdict against Al-Khaiwani, Justice Minister early last week attacked journalists and pointed out that they are susceptible to erring and they are not above the law.

At the meantime, the London-based Article 19 Organization expressed its deep concern over the deteriorating situation of press freedom in Yemen.

Article 19 Executive Director Agnes Callamard described the verdict in the case of Al-Khaiwani, which was suddenly amended earlier this week to include the phrase “expedited implementation,” and the ruling against Al-Qarni to be an indictors that Yemen’s free expression is in peril.

In its statement, the organization also urged the Yemeni government to reaffirm its commitment to the protection of human rights as it was set out clearly in the National Reform Agenda, adopted by the government in 2006.

It added that Yemen has ratified the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and is therefore obliged as a matter of international law to respect the right to freedom of expression as guaranteed by Article 19 of the ICCPR.

It pointed further that the country has acceded to the Arab Charter on Human Rights which, under Article 32, guarantees the right to information and free expression.

News Yemen

The Yemeni Journalists Syndicate (YJS) condemned the security authorities’ abusive measures against journalist al-Sabri bin Makhashin, chief editor of the independent Al-Muharer newspaper and almuharer.net.

Bin Makhashin was detained last Tuesday by the Security Department in Mukalla for publishing stories about disclosure of the secondary school exams, said the syndicate.

Bin Makhashin was admitted to hospital last Thursday to be treated of an injury and security authorities refuse to release him, it said. It said that personnel from the Security Department once raided the office of Al-Muharer and arrested bin Makhashin, condemning the hunt of journalists.

The syndicate called for the immediate release of bin Makhashin and held the security authorities responsible for deteriorating his health.

Sahwa Net – Yemeni security forces violated Fuad Dahaba, member of parliament , arrested two journalists Jabr Sabir and Saleh al-Soraimi and abused female activists belonging to the organization of Women Journalists Without Chains while they were protesting an imprisonment ruling against a comedian and signer Fahad al-Qarni on Wednesday .

Yemeni popular comedian and signer Fahad al-Qarni was sentenced to one and half year in prison and a YR 500,000 fine on Wednesday.

Mareb Press: The Article19 expressed its deeply concerned over the deterioration of freedom of expression in Yemen after a Yemeni court sentenced artist Fahd al-Qarni to 18 months in prison and imposed a fine of YR 500,000 (about US$2,500). In another development, the verdict in the case of Abdul Kareem Al-Khaiwani was amended, thus prohibiting appeal. Security forces have also harassed activists protesting against this decision. “

The sentence against Mr.al-Qarni, the change in the case of Mr Al-Khaiwani and the manhandling of protestors are all indicators of an alarming trend in Yemen of increasing harassment of journalists and public figures in the opposition,” said Dr. Agnès Callamard, Executive Director of ARTICLE 19, in a statement a copy of which was sent to Mareb Press.

Al-Qarni was sentenced at 6:30am on 9 July, two hours before the start of official working hours, to 18 months in prison and a fine of 500,000 Yemeni Riyals to be paid to the General People’s Congress and the Culture Office in Ta’az. According to a local journalist, al-Qarni called on Yemenis to congratulate him for this sentence. Supporters present in the vicinity of the court were also allegedly harassed.

Al-Qarni was arrested in April this year by the security agents as he was heading to Aden to participate in a festival. The arrest is perceived to be politically motivated and in response to Al-Qarni’s position against corruption in Yemen. In July 2006, members of the Criminal Investigations Bureau arrested shopkeepers in an effort to prohibit the circulation of a cassette by the popular artist. The cassette combines traditional folk compositions with humour and criticism of the government’s policies.

Then theres the transmuting sentence of al-Khaiwani that changes every time you blink:

On a different front, the verdict in the case of Mr. Al-Khaiwani was suddenly amended earlier this week to include the phrase “expedited implementation”, which according to local reports prohibits appeal and release pending appeal.

ARTICLE 19 joins the Sisters’ Arab Forum, the Dialogue Forum, the Change Organisation for Human Rights, the Media Women Forum, and the Democratic Social Forum in their appeal to Mr. Esam al-Samawi, the chairman of the High Judiciary Council, for clarification regarding the change in verdict.

(Read on …)

Yemen Observer
The investigations showed that they used internal and external journalists’ e-mails, and provide them with false news about the conflicts in order to raise the insurgents’ morals.

The security source said that the captured elements’ confessions disclosed that they used to write reports about public opinion trends and sent them together with some photographs to Abdulmalik al-Huthi and external journalists, particularly to the American journalist Jane Novak using certain links.

The Yemeni government doesn’t dispute the authenticity of the photos in question. The crime is sending them out of the country, “especially” to me.

Update: Not that the truth matters in Yemeni courts, but Howie reminds me he found the photos at a public forum and sent them to me. I’ll dig for the link where they were posted online way before I ever published them.

Announced by the 26 Septemper (sic), website of the Yemeni military, the charge is distributing information (probably photos of civilians killed by government bombing in Saada.) No mention of progress in tracking down the al-Qaeda in Yemen webmaster though…

From al-Motamar,

the ruling party’s website: The source also pointed out that elements of the network were writing leaflets and sending some information on trends of the public opinion and then sending them to terrorist Abdulmalik al-Houthi in addition to sending some film shots to journalists and newspapers abroad , among them American press especially to the American journalist Jane Novak. They were also writing daily bulletins of the so-called the information office of the rebels. The source added that elements of the network confessed of receiving funds from families of Hamidudin living in one of the neighbouring countries. He explained that after completing investigations with the network elements they would be sent to concerned authorities to be given just punishment for the acts they have committed.

Did they mean photos like these? The ones that show the Yemeni government’s war crimes? These photos were actually published by a Yemeni newspaper . They show Yemenis digging out the bodies of women and children killed by government bombing. In Sa’ada, the Yemeni government is waging an intensive and random bombing campaign against its own citizens as well as starving them with a food blockade. Very Sudan-like.

Warning: Horrible pictures below the fold of the Yemen women and children killed by their own government in Saada Yemen. (Read on …)

Mareb Press

A Yemeni popular signer was sentenced to one year and half in prison on Wednesday for allegedly abusing senior officials including head of the state the president Ali Abdullah Saleh.

The primary court in Taiz province sentenced the comedian Fahd al-Qarni to one year and half in jail and fined him about 500.000 Yemeni rial (300.000 for the ruling party, and 200.000 for the cultural office in Taiz Governorate).

“The verdict will add a real dimension for my peaceful struggle,” Al-Qarni said commenting on the court verdict. He called the people to congratulate him.

The court session was held at early 6:30 in the morning before the working hours. The security force blocked all the streets leading to the court hall.

After the issue of the verdict, a number of citizens gathered protesting against the al-Qanri court verdict.

The riot police and the central security forces opened fired to disperse the protesters, the local sources said.

The sources added the police men beat the protesters including Faud Dahaba, Member of Parliament and a number of journalists.

The police men also arrested a number of journalists.

Al-Qarni was arrested on March 1 for allegedly abusing senior officials and he was also accused of triggering secession and of threatening the national unity in his latest cassettes. Al Qarni has been criticizing the policy of the government through his ironic songs.

The verdict was altered after it was rendered to include the phrase “expedited implementation”, which prohibits appeal and release pending appeal. Who is disrespecting the judiciary now?

Mareb Press

The security men prevented today, Tuesday, journalists and human rights activists from holding a sit-in in front of the High Judiciary Council in Sana’a.

The police men blockade the streets leading to the ministry of judiciary and prevented the protesters from reaching the ministry.

A number of representatives from the Sisters’ Arab Forum for Human Rights, the Dialogue Forum, the Change Organization for the Human Rights and Liberties, the Media Women Forum and the Democratic Social Forum, participated in the sit-in which was held later before the Yemeni Journalists Syndicate.

The protesters demanded an investigation of the change of the court verdict against the opposition journalist Abdul Karim al-Khaiwani, editor in chief of Al Shoura newspaper who was sentenced to 6 years in prison by the Yemeni State Security Court.
In their letter directed to the chairman of the High Judiciary Council, Esam al-Samawi, they demanded an investigation of the change of the court verdict against al-Khaiwani, saying we feel surprised that a point about the immediate implementation of the verdict was added to the court verdict.

Editor Abdel Karim Al-Khaiwani has been regularly targeted by the authorities and was arrested and charged in 2004, 2006 and 2007. These judicial proceedings are the latest and most serious in a long series of cases brought against the Editor. Editor Al-Khaiwani is being tried as a terror suspect rather than for a publishing crime for writing about the war in Sa’ada province.

Yemen Observer:

A number of press journalists have filed a lawsuit against the Yemeni Journalists Syndicate (YJS) represented by the head of the syndicate, his agents, the secretary-general, his aides and members of the executive council, demanding an end to the syndicate and the closure of its headquarters.

The syndicate’s council member Marwan Damaj said that the syndicate grants membership to those who comply with its requirements: holding a university degree and being an editor-level employee rather than a technician in a newspaper. “It is the right of any person to resort to the judiciary, and we do not prevent any person from pursuing this right,” Damaj stated.

The lawsuit filed at the court demanded to speed the judicial procedure to the Ministry of Social Affairs and to force it to form a preparatory committee and an internal system of the syndicate according to the Press and Publications Law No. 25 of 1990 and under judicial supervision of the court.

The journalists who filed the lawsuit against the YJS are Ismail Abdel-Hafiz al-Absi, Abdul Hakim Tarsh al-Mogales, Ahmad al-Makosh, Ahmad Ghailan, Fadhel Saleh, Mohammad Dahan, Mohammad al-Gofi, Abdul-Qader al-Shater, Hanna Me’yad and others. They are known in the press field as they claimed in the lawsuit, and have all legal conditions to obtain journalist profession cards stipulated by the press law and which can be obtained through the YJS. The YJS, through what has been termed an alleged internal regulation, revised the definition of the journalist profession and the press, for the definition of the YJS was partially contrary to the definitions, meanings and connotations specified in the press law, the lawsuit claimed.

SANA’A, NewsYemen

The Yemeni Press Syndicate on Saturday condemned beating journalist Mustafa Nasr by mayor of Sawan zone in the capital Sana’a while he was taking a picture for a poor family begging outside a mosque.

The syndicate said Mustafa was doing his “constitutional and legal” duty as a journalist and covering a case of poverty that the government must fight.

AlSahwa newspaper also condemned the “savagery” offensive against its editor Nasr and demanded that the Minister of Interior arrest the offender and punish him.

A logical article from the IHT,

Al Qaeda made its name in blood and pixels, with deadly attacks and an avalanche of electronic news media.

Recent news articles depict an online terrorist juggernaut that has defied the best efforts by the United States government to counter it. While these articles are themselves a testimony to Al Qaeda’s media savvy, they don’t tell the whole story.

When it comes to user-generated content and interactivity, Al Qaeda is now behind the curve. And the United States can help to keep it there by encouraging the growth of freer, more empowered online communities, especially in the Arab-Islamic world.

The genius of Al Qaeda was to combine real-world mayhem with virtual marketing. The group’s guerrilla media network supports a family of brands, from Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (in Algeria and Morocco) to the Islamic State of Iraq, through a daily stream of online media products that would make any corporation jealous.

A recent report I wrote for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty details this flow. In July 2007, for example, Al Qaeda released more than 450 statements, books, articles, magazines, audio recordings, short videos of attacks and longer films. These products reach the world through a network of quasi-official online production and distribution entities, like Al Sahab, which releases statements by Osama bin Laden.

But the Qaeda media nexus, as advanced as it is, is old hat. If Web 1.0 was about creating the snazziest official Web resources and Web 2.0 is about letting users run wild with self-created content and interactivity, Al Qaeda and its affiliates are stuck in 1.0.

In late 2006, with YouTube and Facebook growing rapidly, a position paper by a Qaeda-affiliated institute discouraged media jihadists from overly “exuberant” efforts on behalf of the group for fear of diluting its message.

This is probably sound advice, considering how Al Qaeda fares on YouTube. A recent list of the most viewed YouTube videos in Arabic about Al Qaeda included a rehash of an Islamic State of Iraq clip with sardonic commentary added and satirical verses about Al Qaeda by an Iraqi poet.

Statements by bin Laden and his chief deputy, Ayman al-Zawahri, that are posted to YouTube do draw comments aplenty. But the reactions, which range from praise to blanket condemnation, are a far cry from the invariably positive feedback Al Qaeda gets on moderated jihadist forums. And even Al Qaeda’s biggest YouTube hits attract at most a small fraction of the millions of views that clips of Arab pop stars rack up routinely.

(Read on …)

Efforts to sue Yemeni government over website ban welcomed at GV Advocacy event in Budapest

Press release by Yemen Portal

Budapest – June 27, 2008

Efforts to challenge the ban of Yemeni websites at court were welcomed yesterday by many online community members participating in the Global Voices Advocacy Workshop held in Budapest, Hungary, under the theme “Online Free Speech: toward a global anti-censorship movement.” The one-day workshop was a prelude to the Global Voices Online Citizen Media Summit 2008, being held from 27 to 28 June and attended by more than 200 bloggers and online activists from around the world.

Walid Al-Saqaf, founder and administrator of YemenPortal.net, which is banned in Yemen, announced at the meeting that a number of blocked Yemeni websites have joined forces to lodge a lawsuit against the Ministry of Communication, in a bid to overturn the ban.

Al-Saqaf asked participants at the event for their support for the lawsuit, which is unprecedented in the region. Reacting to the participants’ positive response, he said: “I am truly grateful for the overwhelming support for our cause in achieving justice for Yemeni websites in their struggle with the Yemeni authorities.”

Dozens of news and opinion websites in Yemen have been banned without notice or warning by the country’s state-owned and dominant Internet Service Provider Yemen Net. The move to take a government to court for banning websites had no precedence in the Arab world, but may not be without risks. “We risk intimidation, harassment, and in fact losing the case due to a biased judiciary. Yet, it is a challenge worth taking as it will reflect this issue more prominently in the mainstream media and highlight our struggle for justice,” added Al-Saqaf.

(Read on …)

This is a short interview with Abdulkarim al-Khaiwani’s little daughter, Eeba, via Hub. She says the thugs were pounding his head into the street and he motioned to her to go back inside.

I hope the regime takes advantage of the temporary lull in publicity to free al-Khaiwani before we have to go into phase two of the campaign.

Abdulkarim al-Khaiwani was sentenced to six years in jail for an article that wasn’t cheerful enough and “liable to undermine the morale of the military”. Comedian Fahd al-Qarni is still in a Yemeni jail for singing a song that was too funny. Actually the song is so funny that when the prosecutor played it at trial as evidence, the entire courtroom burst out laughing, resulting in another trial delay.

In today’s developments, journalist Mohammed al-Mokaleh, spent two months in jail for laughing during al-Khaiwani’s trial. This week he was found guilty at his own trial of “attacking and defaming the judicial system” and given a six month suspended sentence.

However, the original judge refuses to respect the sentence and al-Makaleh remains in jail for defaming the judiciary. Do we get the irony here? The judge who refuses to implement the ruling is the one “attacking and defaming” the judiciary, not the guy who laughed in court. Its a zoo; even the judges treat the judiciary as subordinate to the elite shadow government that operates on vengeance not justice.

According to information before The International Press Institute (IPI), on 15 June, a Yemeni prosecutor accused Al-Mokaleh of “attacking and defaming the judicial system,” for laughing out loud during the concluding moments of the trial of Abdelkarim Al-Khaiwani, former editor-in-chief of the Al-Shoura newspaper, in late April 2008. Al-Mokaleh, who is also the Secretary-General of the opposition Socialist Party, has been a vocal critic of Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh and his policies….Despite efforts by an advisor to the President as well as several Yemeni members of parliament, the judge has refused to release Al-Mokaleh on bail

as required by the court.

Anonymous regime officials spend a lot of time wondering about things in Yemen. But “You’re Worse!” is not an effective refutation.

al-Motamar

Almotamar.net - An official source at the Yemeni Foreign Ministry on Tuesday expressed surprise over the statement of the spokesman for the American state department on Monday concerning the judicial sentence against Abdulkarim al-Khaiwani after an open and just trial among a group of sabotage that targeted a threat to security and stability of Yemen and the commitment of the murder crime of a security officer and one innocent child.

The source said it is strange that this statement comes under ignoring violations of human rights in Guantanamo, Iraq, Afghanistan and others in the world, which have been condemned by all humanitarian organisations in the world, in addition to the political prosecution of sheikh Mohammed al-Mouayad and his companion Mohammed Zaid for crimes they had not perpetrated but in the view of the American administration. The source pointed out that issues of human rights ought not to become means for political pressure or marketing and promoting the crime under consideration by justice, as issues of the freedom of expression.

The Foreign Ministry official source said the Republic of Yemen respects and principally committed to respect all freedoms particularly the human rights and the freedom of expression but at the same time is committed to the Yemeni laws that incriminate the practice of violence and fomenting for it and instigation of seditions all of which are at the end subject to the judiciary

SANA’A,NewsYemen

Official media reported that the Specialized Penal Court sentenced opposition journalist Mohammed al-Maqaleh to a two-month imprisonment and a six-month suspended term in prison.
The court, headed by the Judge Radhwan Annamer, convicted al-Maqaleh of insulting the judiciary and mocking it.

“Mohammed al-Maqaleh is convicted of insulting and disrespecting the judiciary according to law. But, because of al-Maqaleh’s health and social conditions and because the period he served in prison obtained the goal and prepared him to be a good individual in society as well as to prove that punishment is for rehabilitation, but not for revenge, the court sentences al-Maqaleh to two years in prison since his arrest and to a six-month suspended term,” said the court.

The court also sentenced al-Maqaleh term (which he already served). According to the court’s ruling, journalist al-Maqaleh was released today.

The General Prosecution ordered the release of al-Maqaleh immediately after the court pronounced the sentence.
Journalist Mohammed al-Maqaleh was arrested in April 8, 2008 over laughing in a hearing session on the case of journalist Abdul-Karim al-Khaiwani who was sentenced three weeks ago to six years in prison.

al-Sahwa

Sahwa Net – The Yemeni Journalist Syndicate has called upon all journalists, activists, parliamentarians and civil society to attend the trying of the well-known journalist Abdul-Karim Al-Khaiwani, affirming that the state security court will issue a sentence in the case on Monday.

Al-Khaiwani, Editor-In-Chief al-Shura.net news website was sentenced to a year in prison last September for incitement, insulting President Saleh, publishing false news, causing sectarian discrimination and supporting al-Houthi rebellion in Sa’ada governorate.

Yemen is overdue for a victory for press freedom. Its been a while.

Yemen Post:

Al-Khaiwani is accused of numerous violations, among which includes leaking information on the progress of fighting in Sa’ada between the army and Houthi rebels.

During his trial, Amnesty International Organization listed Al-Khaiwani among those journalists to be honored in dedication for human rights and those whose lives are subject to peril in 2008.

According to the organizations release, the prize is awarded to any journalist from across globe whose life was subject to peril, mainly because of adopting human rights journalism.

The release also revealed that Al-Khaiwani, who was the editor-in-chief of Al-Shoura newspaper, has been subjected to perils while performing his journalistic mission.

It called on concerned authorities to ensure his safety and his right to freedom of expression, stressing that a journalist anywhere in the world should not be detained over performing his journalistic task.

The winning journalists are hosted in the organization’s headquarters in London where they are granted the prize. The prize festival is held on June 16.

Media sources feared the issuance of the ruling against Al-Khaiwani could prevent him from traveling abroad to receive the prize, especially when the ruling announcement comes when the situation is tense between Houthi followers and authorities.

They didn’t even let him go to a Red Cross conference in Morocco last year. Since the National Security took over control of the airports, several activists and journalists have been prevented from leaving the country.

الأخوة الأعضاء، (Yemen Portal)

إليكم البيان الصحفي المرفق

تجاوباً مع يمن بورتال في مؤتمر دولي بالسويد

جوجل تعبر عن استعدادها لدعم جهود نشر المعلومة ومقاومة حجب المواقع

الثلاثاء، 3 يونيو 2008

ضمن فعاليات المؤتمر العالمي للصحف المقام حاليا في مدينة جوتيبوري في السويد، أشار نكيش أرورا، المدير الاقليمي في أوروبا لشركة جوجل إلى استعداد جوجل لدعم المبادرات التي من شأنها نشر المعلومة ومكافحة حجب المواقع. وكان هذا التصريح رداً على وليد السقاف المدير العام لمحرك البحث يمن بورتال نت الذي أشار إلى أن الحكومة اليمنية تعمدت حجب موقع يمن بورتال نت بالرغم من قيامه بنفس ما يقوم به جوجل نيوز في إبراز العناوين والمقتطفات من الاخبار الصادرة عن العديد من المواقع. وقد قال السقاف في المؤتمر الذي يشارك فيه كعضو في منظمة المحررين العالمية “قام يمن بورتال نت بعمل مشابه لعملكم في جوجل نيوز وتوقعنا الترحيب الذي لقيتمونه ولكن موقعنا مع الأسف تعرض للحجب بدلاً من ذلك… ما إمكانية تعاون جوجل للمساندة في مقاومة الحجب؟”

وفي رده على السقاف، أكد نكيش أن عمل جوجل هو لتوسيع دائرة المعرفة لمتصفحي الانترنت وتعريفهم بالاخبار والمعلومات التي تصدر عن المواقع المختلفة. وعبر عن استعداد جوجل لدعم أي جهد لتوسيع رقعة انتشار المعلومة. وأشار السقاف أن ذلك فهو يتطابق مع الاهداف التي كانت وراء إنشاء يمن بورتال نت والذي ما يزال محجوبا للمتصفحين في اليمن. (Read on …)

SANA’A, June 2, 2008 (MENASSAT) – State prosecutors have accused Mohamad al-Mokaleh of “attacking and defaming the judicial system” for his outburst of laughter last April during the trial of fellow dissident journalist Abed al-Karim al-Khiwami.

The Yemeni Criminal Court responsible for the state’s security matters has set a date for al-Mokaleh’s trial on June 15, marking two months since the judge at the al-Khiwami trial decided to imprison al-Mokaleh for “disrupting court order.”

According to Abed al-Khiwani, his colleague’s laughter was admittedly loud during the closing arguments of his trial, which came after the state prosecutor was unable to explain and read parts of the defense’s closing argument.

After the prosecutor screamed out his objection, the judge decided to imprison al-Mokaleh for 14 hours as mandated by law, but the real contention over al-Mokaleh’s detention did not occur until the day after his initial detention.

The criminal prosecutor refused to release al-Mokaleh and extended his sentence for one week in order to open up an investigation accusing him of “attacking the judiciary system and insulting the judge.”

But critics of the judge’s decision say the charges appear to be a pretense designed by the Yemeni government to silence al-Mokaleh.

(Read on …)