Issue No. 596
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25 - 31 July 2002 Issue No. 596 Region |
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 | Recommend this page | ||
Softening the clampdown
Yemen's president sought to defuse a crisis with the press and agreed to drop cases filed against some journalists accused of reporting 'military secrets'. Nasser Arrabyee writes from Sana'a
Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh celebrated the anniversary of his election by ordering prosecutors to drop a number of cases against journalists.
The September 26 weekly, mouthpiece of the Defence Ministry, said that in having the cases dismissed, Saleh, who celebrated the anniversary of his 1978 election as head of state one week ago, was showing his "support for democracy as an inevitable choice".
However, the same newspaper warned journalists that they should still "abstain from publishing anything which could contravene the law or harm national unity".
The newspaper did not identify the journalists covered by the amnesty or even say how many there were. But several recent high-profile cases against journalists here have raised concerns among press freedom groups. According to the Yemeni Press Syndicate, a total of 34 journalists, including nine working for foreign media organisations, were either interrogated by prosecutors for alleged violations of the publication law, or were handed warnings by the Information Ministry.
Two local journalists, charged with inciting sedition because of articles they wrote criticising government policies and calling for equality among citizens, were released by a court on 9 July. But the charges against them were not dropped.
One, Abdel-Rahim Mohsen, had been detained since 23 May. The other, Ibrahim Hussein, had been held since 21 June. Two Yemeni correspondents for foreign media organisations were also interrogated by a special press prosecutor on 9 July after reporting what authorities considered army- related news.
Faisal Mukarram of the London-based, Saudi-owned daily Al-Hayat and Khaled Al-Mahdi of the German news agency DPA said the prosecutor had accused them of "publishing military information without evidence and without referring to official sources in accordance with the press law".
A third journalist accused of running a similar report, Associated Press (AP) correspondent Ahmed Al-Hajj, had also been due to face the prosecutor, the Information Ministry said.
Three other journalists for the Saudi daily Al-Riyadh, the Emirati daily Al-Bayan and the Palestinian Al-Quds , were also summoned by the Information Ministry and charged with similar offences.
The reporters of Al-Hayat, DPA, and AP were the first journalists to report about a group of armed tribesmen who fired on a military helicopter while flying low over Al-Zaher area in Al-Jawf province, 170 kilometres to the east of the capital Sana'a, with Vice-Chief of the General Staff of the Army Brigadier Ali Mohamed Salah on board early this month. The helicopter landed safely, but Salah was slightly injured.
Most Yemeni journalists, however, were stunned by the move against the correspondents. They pointed out that similar, and even more sensitive, topics were previously reported without any reaction from authorities. Early this year, 28 men were killed including, 20 security men, in clashes between tribesmen in the eastern province of Marib and the security forces who were looking for Al-Qa'eda suspects.
"These are not military secrets, and the syndicate is ready to use all its resources to defend the journalists," Chairman of the Yemeni Journalists Syndicate Mahboob Ali, told Al-Ahram Weekly. Ali added that such acts harmed Yemen's image and the country's political system.
The Ministry of Information said, however, that it would continue to prosecute anyone who contravenes the law governing the press and publications. "The ministry will not hesitate to hold accountable those who break the law and report military or security news without referring to official sources," said Deputy Minister of Information Mohamed Shaher Hassan.
The ministry has the right to withdraw permits from reports for foreign media organisations and prevent journalists from renewing their permits, Hassan stressed.
"The actions being taken against us are unfair and unjust, and they have nothing to do with national security or the country's interests," DPA reporter, Al-Mahdi told the Weekly. "I only did my duty by reporting the facts", he added. "I wonder why they only selected three reporters from among dozens of reporters who reported the same incident."
Moreover, two socialist writers, Abdel-Rahim Mohsen, 45, and Ibrahim Hassan, 42, were detained and brought to court last week on charges of "provoking intercommunal strife and harming national unity".
The case file included 35 articles written by Hassan and 60 articles written by Mohsen all of them "calling for sectarianism and harming national unity", according to the charge sheet prepared by prosecutors.
Meanwhile, alongside its use of the proverbial "stick", the government is offering "carrots", too, in its bid to tame the opposition press.
Last week, well-known writer and author Nasr Taha Mustafa, officially declared his withdrawal from the Islah Party, the largest Islamic opposition party, and joined President Saleh's ruling party.
Mustafa, who was one of founders of Islah, is currently working as the chairman of the state-run Yemen News Agency, SABA, and has been very recently appointed as the first ever spokesman for the Yemeni government.
Another veteran socialist writer and journalist, Ahmed Al- Hubaishy, also officially joined the ruling party early this month.
Some analysts linked the government's fierce campaign against journalists with the coming parliamentary elections scheduled to be held on 27 April 2003.
The ministry has issued licenses for more than 200 political party and independent newspapers and magazines since 1990 when the multi-party system was proclaimed. About 70 of them are still working. However, during this year alone three opposition newspapers were shut down.
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