Reporters Without Borders accused the Yemeni government today of trying to intimidate journalists working for foreign media by hauling them in for questioning. "The government is using this and legal action to cow journalists," said the organisation's secretary-general, Robert Ménard.
He asked information minister Abdul Rahman al-Akwa and justice minister Ismail Ahmad al-Wazir to put a stop to the campaign, which he said was aimed at further reducing press freedom in Yemen.
Three journalists – Faisal Mukarram of the Saudi Arabian daily Al-Hayat, Ahmed al-Haj of the US news agency Associated Press and Khaled al-Mahdi of the German news agency DPA – were questioned on 9 and 11 July by a court in Sana'a that deals with media offences. They were accused of publishing "military information without evidence and without consulting official sources as required by the press law."
Mukarran refused to answer the questions of the judge, Fadil Mubarak al-Salmi, without the presence of a lawyer and a senior Yemeni journalist.
He asked information minister Abdul Rahman al-Akwa and justice minister Ismail Ahmad al-Wazir to put a stop to the campaign, which he said was aimed at further reducing press freedom in Yemen.
Three journalists – Faisal Mukarram of the Saudi Arabian daily Al-Hayat, Ahmed al-Haj of the US news agency Associated Press and Khaled al-Mahdi of the German news agency DPA – were questioned on 9 and 11 July by a court in Sana'a that deals with media offences. They were accused of publishing "military information without evidence and without consulting official sources as required by the press law."
Mukarran refused to answer the questions of the judge, Fadil Mubarak al-Salmi, without the presence of a lawyer and a senior Yemeni journalist.