New
York, May 15, 2012-Yemen's Press and Publications Court must drop charges
against two Al-Jazeera journalists for their coverage of last year's uprising,
the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.
CPJ
also urged the Cabinet not to revive a restrictive Audio-Visual and Electronic
Media bill that has been pending in Parliament since 2010.
Two
Sana'a-based Al-Jazeera correspondents, Ahmed al-Shalafi and Hamdi al-Bukari,
were summoned Monday to appear before the special Press and Publications Court
on May 21 for "operating outside the bounds of the law," according to
news reports. The government of former President Ali Abdullah Saleh-who stepped
down in February following popular protests-filed a case against the two
journalists in June 2011, claiming they broke the law by broadcasting news of
the uprising after the government pulled Al-Jazeera's accreditation. Despite
the Ministry of Information having withdrawn the charges, the Press and
Publications Court has chosen to revive the case, news reports said. A 2010 CPJ
report found that the court is politicized and arbitrary and fails to accord
journalists the minimal legal protections. Many local lawyers described it as
unconstitutional.
Saeed
Thabit, Al-Jazeera's Yemen bureau chief, told CPJ that the move is part of a
campaign against Al-Jazeera and press freedom in Yemen. In April 2011, security
forces raided and shut down Al-Jazeera's Sana'a offices; the government pulled
the station's accreditation; and several of its journalists faced harassment,
death threats, and assault for their coverage of the uprising. Saleh had
accused the station of conspiring against Yemen and using its broadcasts to
topple the regime. Thabit said none of the perpetrators of the 2011 attack on
Al-Jazeera have been brought to justice.
"The
court's revival of a politicized case from the Saleh era sends a clear message
to all journalists in Yemen that nothing has changed for the press," said
Mohamed Abdel Dayem, CPJ's Middle East and North Africa program coordinator.
In
late May, the Cabinet is due to discuss an Audio-Visual and Electronic Media
bill proposed by former President Saleh's government in 2010, according to
local press freedom group Freedom Foundation for media freedom, rights, and
development. Local and international human rights and press freedom groups had
condemned the bill as an attempt to restrict the press.
CPJ's
2010 review of the proposed legislation found that it would impose exorbitant
registration fees on private broadcasters and subject online outlets to licensing
fees and state regulation, among other restrictions. The Sana'a-based Freedom
Foundation is calling for the drafting of a new audio-visual bill or at the
least a significant revision of the proposed one, said Khaled al-Hammadi,
president of group. He told CPJ that the government is trying to restrict
reporting with this legislation.
"As
if hauling journalists in front of an extraordinary tribunal on trumped up
charges were not enough, the authorities are now also reviving a media law that
was so restrictive, it could not even pass during Saleh's near-absolute grip on
power," Abdel Dayem said.
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