Attacks on the Press 2006: Yemen
YEMEN Presidential elections provided the backdrop for a series of troubling attacks against Yemen’s increasingly vocal independent and opposition press. As expected, President Ali Abdullah Saleh extended his nearly three decades in power by another six years, but the run-up to the September vote saw an upsurge in violence, intimidation, and legal harassment, along with…
2006 Awards – Ceremony
New York, November 22, 2006–The Committee to Protect Journalists marked its 25th anniversary by honoring four journalists with its 2006 International Press Freedom Awards in a ceremony Tuesday night which highlighted record-setting attacks on the press in Iraq. More than 850 people attended the benefit dinner which raised $1.3 million. It was co-chaired by Robert…
Editor convicted and fined over Prophet cartoons
New York, December 6, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the conviction and fine handed down to a Yemeni editor today for reprinting Danish cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad. A court in the capital Sana’a convicted Mohammed al-Asaadi, editor-in-chief of the English-language weekly Yemen Observer, of insulting Islam and fined him 500,000 rials (U.S. $2,500).
Official daily smears award-winning editor
New York, November 28, 2006—Yemen’s leading state-run newspaper Al-Thawra attacked independent editor Jamal Amer upon his return from the United States where he received the Committee to Protect Journalists 2006 International Press Freedom Award. The daily ran a front-page article on November 26 suggesting that he was a U.S. agent and warning of possible legal…
Editor jailed for one year over Prophet cartoons
New York, November 28, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the one-year jail sentence handed down to a Yemeni editor for reprinting Danish cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad. A court in the capital Sana’a sentenced Kamal al-Aalafi, editor-in-chief of the Arabic-language weeklyAl-Rai Al-Aam on November 25. It also banned him from practicing journalism for six…
Court fines opposition weekly
JULY 12, 2006 Ali Saqqaf, Al-Wahdawi LEGAL ACTION A court in the capital Sana’a ordered the opposition weekly Al-Wahdawi to pay 500,000 riyals (US$2,550) in compensation to the Ministry of Defense, fined the paper 50,000 riyals (US$255) and banned Editor-in-Chief Ali Saqqaf from practicing journalism for six months.